Hostage Control
by LittleHandGernade
Summary: :::Complete:::Addie's agreed to be Klaus' hostage in order to keep everyone she loves safe. She's left her boyfriend in charge of watching her sister, despite his lingering feelings for Elena and her feelings for him. Damon's jealousy and everyone's expectations are becoming too much to bear. Can they find their way back to each other or is one summer too long apart? Sequel Coming!
1. Prologue

**A/N (Please read entirely):** **This story, while a sequel to _Invisible Control_ , _is written to stand on its own_. If you are interested the first installment is almost 450k words and covers seasons 1 and 2. It took a year to compose and I don't expect my readers to remember it all, when I have trouble doing so. As such, all the _vital_ information from the first story is outlined in this chapter as a refresher for old readers and to catch up new ones.**

* * *

May 1st, 2010

Damon is saved from the werewolf bite because Stefan gave himself over to Klaus in exchange for the crue.

* * *

May 4th, 2010

Perplexed by the odd thumping sound in the drum mix she had just recorded, Addie dragged her cursor over the progress bar, dragging the line of play to the beginning. For the next playback she removed the sound from the bass drum; perhaps the microphone had picked up some weird echo. The loop played for thirty seconds, the odd thumping sound sound still present. Addie restarted the track, this time turning off the snare drum. The sound seemed to deep to be the the high-hats or crash cymbal. Addie clamped her hands over the bulking headphones she used for mixing. The thumping sound was still present but it seemed to have sped up. Annoyed, she stopped all sound. But the thumping persisted.

Groaning, Addie pulled of her headphones and set them on her desk. The sound was coming from someone pounding at her door. Scowling she went to open the door. If it was Elena trying to talk to her again Addie wasn't going to bite her tongue. Her sister had tried to talk to her about John and Jenna twice since Damon had been cured; she wasn't interested in Elena trying to reattribute the blame to someone else. Addie reconsidered simply opening the door as she unlocked it; she'd made Damon replace the doorknob he broke. Determining if she actually wanted to talk to the person on the other side she called out, "What's the password?"

"Um… You drive me ten types of crazy? Converse and plaid? I love you?"

"Alright, alright, alright. Stop guessing," Addie grinned, opening the door for Damon. "You're very bad at it."

"Aww," Damon grinned shutting the door behind him. "I missed you, too."

"I just saw you last night; that doesn't give me very much time to miss you," Addie retorted smartly. Still, her arms wrapped around him as he pulled her into a tight hug. Mentally she went through the checklist she had created; he was slightly cool to the touch, his heartbeat was strong, steady, and a little faster than hers, and the grip around her was able to hold her tight. Each time she inventoried Damon's health a rush of relief washed over her. He was ok; the cure hadn't worn off.

"It's been over 18 hours. That's plenty of time!" he insisted as he moved to her laptop. "Besides, we both know how much you'd miss me if I wasn't here," Damon winked. He rolled his eyes slightly as he unplugged the headphones. "No wonder I was knocking for five minutes. You're gonna go deaf one day if you don't learn to keep the volume down."

Addie picked up the laptop and moved to sit on her bed as she pointed out, "Ideal mixing volume is 85 decibels. If I don't mix at that level then things start sounding screwed up at different volumes. Most people don't listen to music that loudly but sounds that you can individually make out at 85 decibels make a difference to what everything sounds like at a typical listening level."

"My point still stands; you're gonna go deaf," Damon noted, stretching out on the bed next to Addie and draping an arm over her shoulders. Casually he question, "Have you written to Mr. Nik Mikaelson about how awesome you are and thank him for the scholarship that means so much to you because it gets you out of playing with wolves, vampires, hybrids, and everything else that goes bump in the night?"

"I'm not taking the scholarship," Addie muttered as she opened up the web browser to Google.

"Uh, yeah, you are," declared Damon, giving her a stern look. "You promised me."

She shrugged dismissively, "I thought you were gonna die. I would have promised you the moon if it made you happy. Besides, I can't go with everything going on here."

"Addison, I've done some pretty intense things to keep my promises to you. You're not gonna keep one simple promise that means a lot to me?"

Addie made sure her eyes were wide and concerned as she looked at Damon innocently, "That was before Klaus took Stefan. I can't leave you alone to try and rescue him."

Damon leaned in to softly kiss her. She was sweet and adorable and she wasn't fooling him, He pulled away with a knowing smirk and elaborated, "You mean you don't trust me not to do something reckless without you playing Jiminy Cricket in my ear."

His cheek was cool and scruffy beneath her hand. He hadn't shaved since he found out about Stefan. He hadn't done much of anything but swing from the extremes of wallowing in despair and avidly searching for any clue as to where his brother was. Addie gave him a sympathetic smile; her heart ached for him. She whispered, "You don't have to hide how much you're hurting with smiles and wit, not with me." Damon's smirk fell as he dropped his forehead to rest against hers with a heavy sigh. Her thumb brushed lightly over his frown before she continued, "No matter what I say or do, you're going to do something reckless. Nothing is going to stop you from getting Stefan back, not even your love for me. We both know no matter what stupid thing you do, I'm going to forgive you. Stefan is your brother and, as much as I may hate what you do, I'm not going to hold trying to save your brother against you. I want to be around to help you, to encourage you when you lose hope, to track down leads with you. You don't need a babysitter. I want to be here because I care about you."

There was another light pressing of lips before Damon was quiet for several minutes, deep in thought. It was understandable why she wanted to be with him and he appreciated that. However, he couldn't go chasing down every lead if she was in Mystic Falls. Addie would want to go with him and he obviously wouldn't stand for that; he didn't know if Stefan was a threat to Addie but Klaus definitely was. He needed to keep the two as far apart as possible. Damon wasn't sure how many times he could get away without her noticing. School was about to end so he wouldn't even have that time break from her to get away. How many times would Addie forgive him for running after Klaus and Stefan without her? It was one thing for him to risk his own life for Stefan; it was another thing entirely to risk hers. She wouldn't see it that way though. Addie would want to be the Bonnie to his Clyde. He had to get her to go to London..

"You really believe I don't need a babysitter?" he teased.

"Fair enough. You need a babysitter but it's pointless since you wouldn't listen anyway."

"Ads, you promised me that you would go to the music program. I need you to keep that promise. Do you know how guilty I would feel if you were deprived of such an experience just to stay and help me? Addie, you need to go and do this. Think of everything you will learn, the connections you'll make, and how good it will look on college applications. Come on, love. You're strong minded and independent enough to know that you would be a fool to waste this opportunity because of a guy." Damon felt her shoulders tense as her lips pinched. That was the angle he needed to exploit, that she needed to put herself before him. "This is so much bigger than you and me. _If_ Stefan's still missing when you get back, I know you will be right by my side doing everything you can. I'll be ok; it's only for part of the summer. You can bet Elena is going to kick my ass back into gear if I get discouraged. And Alaric will have my back if I go after Stefan; you know he won't let me run into something without a good plan."

Pulling back from him Addie scoffed, "Alaric helps with your stupid plans!"

He couldn't come up with a valid argument against that. It was perhaps better that he change the topic and let the idea of not staying behind because of himself marinate. "How is it having your history teacher sleeping on your couch?"

She laughed, "It's a lot less awkward than running into him in his boxers. But seriously, it's kinda nice having Alaric here. He's not family but there is an adult around, even if he doesn't act like an authoritative figure. The only thing weird is when he tries to get me to talk about the ritual and Klaus. He tries to act like a therapist. I find that a good point in time to pawn him off on Jeremy or Elena."

"Ever consider that he's not trying to be a therapist but actually cares about you and how you are handling everything?" Damon postulated as he rubbed at his chin.

"He tried to kill me," reminded Addie.

Damon frowned, "I thought you were over that."

"I am but I hardly think it means we're gonna be best buddies. You don't almost kill someone and then care about them." Damon cleared his throat. "You're not right in the head; you don't count."

"Couldn't you argue that anyone who tries to kill someone isn't right in the head? Besides, Alaric staked you to hurt me for killing his wife. It had nothing to do with you."

"Why are you questioning me about Alaric?" she demanded, not in the mood for whatever game he was playing.

"Because your siblings seem to get that he cares about you guys. You don't and that's just…. I'm pretty sure he cares about you most. Partly because he feels bad for almost killing you and partly because you're you."

"How do you know?"

Damon thought as he guided her head to his shoulder and ran his fingers through her hair. He chuckled, "Addie, the guy's my best friend. He doesn't ride me about any of the crap I do but he's always on my ass about you. If I hurt you, I don't know which of you would kill me first. He always worries if I'm treating you alright and warns me not to screw anything up with you. Why would he do that if he doesn't care?"

"Ok," Addie conceded, "he cares. Why are we talking about Alaric?"

That was a valid point; they had plenty of more important things that they needed to discuss. He wondered, "Did Jeremy or Bonnie tell you about the locator spell we used to find you?"

"No. Wasn't it just like the locator spell used when Rose and Trevor took Elena?"

"Same spell, different process. We started looking for you after Elena came back to life. I was pretty worried as you hadn't been answering my text or your phone and you weren't in the middle of all the trouble. Bonnie tried finding you with Elena's blood but couldn't. She tried using Jeremy's blood and it still wouldn't work," Damon relayed, struggling to find the words to continue.

Addie blinked slowly as she studied the bright Google homepage. Something about Damon's story didn't add up. "Then how'd you find me?"

"My blood."

"You're blood?" she echoed skeptically.

"My blood."

Putting her laptop aside Addie pulled her knees up to her chest and rested a chin on one. She raked an anxious hand through her hair as she thought, "Why your blood? It's suppose to be tracked by blood relatives. Oh, gross. We must share an ancestor whose blood we both have. Prior to your birth a Gilbert and Salvatore must have…. How distantly related are we?"

Damon rolled his eyes as he rested his head against the headboard. While he understood her need for everything to be rational and logical and appreciated it as it had kept him from doing some very rash things, Addie could sometimes take her need for sense so far that she missed why her logic was faulty. He reassured her, "We're not related."

"The spell is blood magic; we have to be,"' she insisted her brow furrowing.

"First of all, no Salvatores were in Mystic Falls until my parents moved here when my mother was already pregnant with me. Secondly, it's supposed to work by blood magic but your biological brother's blood and your biological cousin's blood failed to produce results," Damon pointed out slowly. "Somehow my blood tracked you, though."

Addie scoffed, "Well what the hell does that mean? This is why I don't like the supernatural crap. When something is supposed to make sense and work, the world gets flipped upside down."

Sensing the anxiety in her voice, Damon rubbed small, soothing circles on her back. Would telling her make things better or worse? He'd let her pick. "I don't have any proof," he started hesitantly, "but do you want to hear my theory of possibilities?"

"Sure because I don't have a damn clue," she answered sourly. She didn't _want_ to be some abnormal freak with bizarre blood. It wasn't something she couldn't escape, though. She had known for a long time that something wasn't right.

"I'll start with the facts; those are easier to comprehend," Damon said sympathetically. He knew this was going to be a struggle for her to accept. "My active compulsion, meaning something you were consciously aware of doing or feeling, like the compulsion to take control of your life, wore off whenever you would drink my blood. Compulsion where I made you forget something stayed. I think that was because the memories were literally gone, you couldn't remember. The compulsion that changed your behavior or sensations was something your brain was processing so it was still there to be undone. We know that there is already something unusual about that; drinking my blood shouldn't mess with compulsion.

"We learned from Katherine that you could learn to resist compulsion entirely by me repeatedly compelling you and feeding you my blood. We did that. Over that time period you took in more vampire blood than any human typically would, even if they were a feeder.

"Now, when we started trying to get you to resist compulsion your blood smell poisonously sweet. I tried it when I bit you and it was like I had an allergic reaction with my throat swelling shut. As soon as you were able to resist compulsion, your blood smelled as sweet as a vampire's and I could drink it without any reaction.

"We have you able to resist compulsion from ingesting my blood and as a result I am able to ingest your blood. Now, let's step outside to a world of conjecture. While none of this is logical, one thing remains constant in the supernatural and real world: survival of the fittest. Knowing that, It makes very little sense as to why something that protected you from being eaten by vampires should vanish when you gain the ability to keep vampires out of your head."

Damon paused briefly before quickly saying, "Brief side note on abilities, we're just talking about what's going on with your blood. You still have the ability to perceive deception from vampires. Deception includes hiding what they are so I'm adding it to the list of, for a lack of a better word, survival aids."

Addie groaned, resting her forehead on her knees and burying her fingers in her hair. "The blood, Damon. The blood. Can we focus on one of many problems at a time?"

"I wouldn't call that a problem but we do have a problem with your blood," he admitted, conflicted on which direction to steer the conversation.

"Oh, my God! On topic, please. Why did your blood work when my siblings' didn't?" snapped Addie, frustrated and queasy feeling about the entire conversation.

It took Damon a minute to gather where he left of and to compose something that Addie would accept. He could sense how upset the conversation was making her. There wasn't any simple way to put it. Finally he explained, "I know this sounds ridiculous but think about how much of my blood you've had. Think about how my blood healed you from the edge of death. My blood has done a lot to you several times. My blood conditioned you to be resistant to compulsion. What if it did something more? What if my blood changed yours? There's no sensible explanation as to why you can resist compulsion. The closest thing I've been able to come up with is that you're biologically different from the rest of the population. For some reason vampire blood undoes compulsion. My theory is that it undoes it because your body accepts the blood more readily than an average person. In an average person it just gives the vampire ability of rapid healing; in you it heals _and_ gives you the vampire ability of resisting compulsion, meaning you can't be compelled, which is why it undoes the compulsion.

Warily Addie said, "Damon-"

"I _know_ it's not logical. Being a vampire isn't logical. Addie, you have to accept that whatever happened is not logical. I'm just conjecturing _possibilities_ that make the most sense," he stressed. He was trying his best to answer her question, to explain what happened to her but for that he needed her to open her mind. "My blood has been in you so much that it's become a part of yours." He was no biologist but from his time with the Augustine Society he knew that it was vampire blood that rapidly duplicated to heal someone; it wasn't their body making more of their own blood. Eventually the vampire blood would leave the system, which is why it wasn't a cure for chronic, persistent illnesses

"Each time I compelled and healed you, you needed less of my blood. Logically, my blood would have left your system but what if each time some of my blood lingered. You already had some of my blood in you to heal you, which is why you had to lose less blood each time and needed less of my blood. What was still in you would have automatically started healing you." The incredulous look from Addie made him groan. "Stop trying to make this rational! Logic isn't the answer!" Damon snapped. "And stop looking at me like I'm crazy. Let me explain why I think my blood must be in you. Or some protein that makes me a vampire attached itself to your DNA."

Addie move to rest her head in Damon's lap. Everything he was saying didn't make sense and it was making her head hurt trying to understand. The pain began to instantly ease when his cool hand rested over her forehead. She loved how he knew exactly what she needed sometimes. Addie sighed, "Make it fast."

"If I go fast I skip the possible reasoning," he said apologetically. He wasn't sure if her dismissive meant she didn't care or if she wanted the reasoning. It wasn't difficult to tell she wanted the conversation to end but he needed something first. "If you have vampire blood/DNA, I've explained why it would make you resist compulsion. I _think_ it's more likely that their has been a shift in your DNA though. Attaching a vampire protein to your DNA would, in my mind, would neutralize whatever it is that makes your blood dangerous to vampires. That's why I can drink your blood.

"If your DNA was altered, maybe it was so dramatic that it made the locator spell not recognize you as a relative to Jeremy or Elena. It recognized me, though, because you are carrying a protein unique to me and vampirism. .

Addie turned her head to look up at Damon speculatively. "Let me see if I follow. I consumed so much of your blood that when it mixed with mine, my DNA picked up whatever makes you resistant to compulsion." Damon nodded affirmatively. "And that change in my DNA makes me not recognizable by my siblings because because a portion of my DNA is part _vampire_?"

"Right. They're both fully human; your DNA has something extra. I have that extra something, making us a blood match, at least that's the term I'm using. Follow everything so far?" he asked, smiling down at her and poking the tip of her nose.

"If everything means my DNA has some of your in it, explaining the compulsion and why your blood worked for the spell, yes," she answered, trying not to giggle at the feeling of him playing with her belly button ring.

"Very good. But going back to what I said about one defense mechanism, poisonous blood, being cancelled by a new defense, compulsion resistance is the one thing I can definitively say makes no sense, magical or real. Now, this idea is bizarre but it's what I'm hoping for. What if your blood is still poisonous to every other vampire except me?"

Addie toyed with the hem of his shirt as she considered the idea. Not understanding she inquired, "How do you figure this possible?"

"Say the DNA of mine mixed with yours is unique to me and not every other vampire. Maybe it makes your blood safe for me to drink because I'm essentially a part of your blood. Every other vampire remains allergic, meaning you still have the defense mechanism. In the survival of the fittest argument, it's probably safe to assume that I'm not going to eat you and there is a bond of trust between us because of how much I was around your blood and how much you had to trust me to not let you die. Agree?" Damon finished hopefully.

"Makes as much sense as anything else," she muttered bitterly. "My apologies but I think I will trust in vervain to make sure my blood is toxic and a vampire doesn't eat me."

Damon frowned as he spelled out her name on her cheek with his finger tip. He reminded, "The whole point we carried on trying to make you resistant to compulsion was so you wouldn't have to spend the rest of your life on vervain. If my theory is right, that's still possible. Don't you even want to test my theory?"

Her lips pursed in thought; she really hated having to rely on something for her safety. "How do we test your theory?"

Damon bit his lip and inhaled sharply. She wouldn't like his idea. He drew out "Yeahhh, about that. See, we only know where one other vampire is right now." He continued on despite Addie already shaking her head. "I happen to be her blood supplier. Wouldn't it just be an amazing coincidence if a blood bag had just a tiny amount of your blood in it?"

"No, we are not testing your theory on Caroline," she answered firmly.

"She would experience a minor discomfort for the briefest of time. I swallowed a whole mouthful back when it was poisonous and it didn't do any permanent damage. Addie, it's a few seconds of discomfort for Caroline or your life on vervain," Damon pressed.

"No, I can't do that without her permission."

Sighing heavily, Damon cupped her cheek. "We've already established that anyone finding out about your compulsion thing is a bad idea. This is just like that. You _know_ if you asked her Caroline would agree."

Addie frowned, "Why can't we just ask her? She can-"

"That girl cannot keep a secret. I never had to compel her to say anything I told her to keep just between us. You're the one who said 'one can keep a secret, beware of two, and all will know with three.'"

"That was from a book; you totally butchered the quote. And I don't like being reminded of your time with Caroline; she does it more times than I could ever care to hear."

"What does she say?" Damon asked curiously. He couldn't remember doing anything with or to or telling Caroline anything he would mind Addie knowing but it was interesting that she brought him up.

Addie scoffed, "She is far too interested in our sex life or lack thereof. Caroline questions why I'm with you if not for the sex." He couldn't help the arrogant smirk. "Really, that's two of your ex-partners who are more invested in our sex life than you are."

"Katherine say something?" She nodded. "Ignore her…. Ignore Caroline. It's none of their business."

Bitterly Addie muttered, "There's no business to be had."

"I'm not having this discussion again. You aren't ready."

"No, I am ready. _You're_ the one with the personal hang ups," she retorted, poking him in the center of his chest. "Really, it's a bit of a blow to the ego to be reminded by them that they've slept with you when you either can't or won't with me."

Damon looked up at the plastic stars on the ceiling and groaned. He really didn't want to get into conversation with her about it. Bit by bit his hangups about her being too childish, too innocent, too pure were breaking away. "When you can say how you feel about me, we'll revisit the topic," he decided. That'd hopefully buy him a year. She had barely been able to face the fact that she loved him at his deathbed; no way was she going to be shouting it out anytime soon. Wanting to change the topic he asked, "Are you gonna give me a vial of blood or stay on vervain for eternity?"

"Fine," she scowled. It probably wouldn't hurt Caroline at all.

"I love it when you work with rather than against me," Damon mused as he pulled out a packaged needle, alcohol swab and corked vial from his pocket.

Addie watch in disbelief as he took her arm and rubbed the alcohol swab over the veins at her elbow. "You seriously were carrying that around with you?"

"Yeah," he answered, opening the needle. "We need to know if you should be on vervain or not as soon as possible."

"You know, I'm getting the feeling this has more to do with you _not_ wanting me on vervain than caring about if I have to take it for the rest of my life," she uttered to herself. Addie screwed her eyes shut as she felt a sharp sting. The vial could be heard clicking into place. There was absolutely no desire to see her blood flow into the tube. Sometimes she still wondered how she could date a vampire and be squeamish of blood at the same time.

"That," Damon said slowly, removing the needle and pricking his own finger, "is not true." Addie swipe her tongue across his fingertip and felt the puncture heal. "I'm not… we haven't even… nevermind."

Addie raised her eyebrows at him and pushed, "You mean we haven't discussed you drinking my blood?"

Damon held his hands up innocently after setting the needle and vial on the nightstand. "That is something entirely up to you."

"I don't mind if you drink from me occasionally," she admitted. She actually kind of enjoyed it. "But I don't want you feeding on me."

"If you're head was not in my lap I'd kiss you until you were breathless," said Damon seriously. The way her cheeks pinked made him grin. "I, somehow, ended up with the most amazing girl in the world."

Addie frowned and joked, "That probably means I should really examine my choices. I must be insane."

"We both are," Damon replied carelessly as he reached for her laptop and set it on his lower thighs. In the Google search box he put in the name Liz had given him.

"Who's Tara Miller?"

"Victim of a vampire attack," Damon answered distractedly. Clicking open the first news article he skimmed for the information he was looking for. He did the same with the next, finding what he wanted. "A victim of Stefan. He and Klaus are in Oregon."

"How do you know," Addie questioned as he clicked on another link.

Damon sighed heavily, "I have Liz looking out for vampire deaths. Apparently there is some nation wide network of somebody who knows somebody who knows something. She gave me the name of Tara Miller who was found dead inside her home this morning. The news doesn't say anything about her being drained of blood _but_ Liz knows she was and I know Stefan did it. See, even when he's in Ripper Mode and chews straight through someone's neck, he has this horrible guilt that makes him set the body back up in a presentable way with the decapitated head in place."

"Gruesome. However, I think I would rather find the head and body separate. You go to touch someone, thinking their throat has been sliced and the head comes rolling off? Sounds like something straight out of a horror movie. I prefer dead things to not move around unexpectedly," Addie reflected.

"Ok, I'm gonna warn you. I'm going to put the laptop next to you and then I'm gonna kiss you," Damon said slowly, as if explaining to a child.

It took Addie a second to register why he was warning her; he was dead, technically. She swatted at him lightly and laughed, "You know what I mean!"

* * *

May 8th, 2010

Confusion and concern overwhelmed Damon when he entered the kitchen Saturday morning. Addie sat on the counter top staring into a pint of Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia ice cream, Cautiously he greeted, "You know, it's a much better experience waking up to you in bed with me rather than finding you in the kitchen eating _my_ Cherry Garcia."

"I didn't want to wake you. And I finished my chocolate," Addie muttered, not looking up from the container.

"Whoa. You're already on your second pint of ice cream and it's only ten," Damon observed dramatically as he took the spoon from her and scooped out a bite. "You know, if you don't slow down you're gonna be on your sixth by noon and that is five too many above the running limit." She didn't respond. Gently, Damon took the melting treat from her, set it on the counter and wrapped her arms around his neck as he stood between her legs. Addie continued to stare at where the container had been. He frowned as he tilted her chin up to meet his eyes. "You wanna tell me why you're eating Cherry Garcia when you detest all things cherry?"

"I finished my chocolate," she repeated.

Damon studied her, truly baffled as to what was wrong. He hadn't seen her since Tuesday as he didn't want to interfere with her studying for finals and the previous night had been the last girl's night before Bonnie left for the summer. Her stress was over. Could Bonnie's leaving have her that upset? Her pulled her into a hug and she buried her face where his neck and shoulder met. Something was obviously wrong but he had come to learn that Addie reacted better when she told him in her own time as opposed to him pressing her for information.

After almost ten minutes Damon could barely make out Addie's mumbled, "I read Elena's diary for the first time since you had us move in."

"Mhm," he encouraged, rubbing her back. He should have known it had something to do with Elena.

"I wanna feel guilty and bad about her losing Stefan but that's pretty hard to do when her diary screams of her pining for you," she muttered, holding him tighter afraid he might run to her sister.

"'I thought she was over that...me...whatever. She seems happy for us," Damon noted, wondering if Addie's jealousy had caused her to misinterpret her sister's writings.

Addie laughed humorlessly, "She's happy that you're unavailable because it makes her choice easier.

Damon bit back a groan. He really couldn't see how Katherine had fun putting him and Stefan against each other. At one point he would have appreciated Elena's feelings but that had passed. "Even if you and I weren't together she wouldn't have a choice. I'm not interested in her anymore."

There was a list of people, including Elena, that would or had suggested otherwise but Addie didn't want to fight with him about whether he did or did not have feelings for Elena. "That's not the important part. She blames me for Klaus' taking Stefan and thinks you should blame me too."

"What is it with you two and wanting to blame the other for everything?" Damon asked sharply, pulling away. Addie raised her eyebrows at him in a challenge. If she got angry with him, that would be her problem and she'd get over. He carried on with his voice slowly becoming louder, "For someone who speaks so much of logic and wants to make sense of everything, you completely ignore that when it comes to blaming Elena for everyone dying. Your parents? Car _accident_. Jenna? Klaus. John? Saving his daughter. I get how you want to blame her and I see how it can make sense to but, Addie, you need to grow up. See, _this_ is why I won't sleep with you. Most of the time you act far older than you actually are but then you say or do something that reminds me you're a kid."

They stared at each other for a moment. Damon could feel his heart slamming against his chest; he didn't recall ever going off on Addie since they had been together. He definitely never yelled at her before. Ignoring Damon's comment seemed a more appealing option than fighting with him about it. Instead she focused on his main argument, asking, "Since you're the new expert in logic riddle me this: did Elena lose her boyfriend so I could keep mine?"

"Which of you came up with that?" he questioned dejectedly, running his hands up and down her jean clad outer thighs. Once again Addie had left him in surprise; though, she had always seemed to prefer fighting over things that didn't really matter. They probably wouldn't still be together if she argued with him over the important aspects of his personality, rash actions or their relationship.

"Which one of us thinks the world revolves around them?"

"Elena doesn't - " Damon cut himself off due to the cold glare he received. Trying to convince her to be on better terms with Elena was futile. One day, perhaps, but she needed to let go of her anger first. It had taken him facing death to let go of his anger with Stefan; hopefully Addie was more sensible than he was. Damon refocused on her original question as he studied her. The odd behavior, the wringing of her hands, and the refusal to meet his gaze all suggested one thing. Gently he took her face in his hands and stared at her until she reluctantly met his gaze. "I'm only going to tell you this once because any idea besides the truth is ridiculous. What Stefan did had nothing to do with Elena or you. Stefan gave up his freedom so that I could live. He didn't leave his girlfriend so I could be with mine; that's just an unfortunate side effect. Addie, Elena's hurting from losing Stefan. You live with her; it's easier for her to blame losing Stefan on you than blaming the one responsible: Klaus. She can't do anything to Klaus but she _can_ hurt you. But, Ads, you're not guilty of anything."

"But Stefan traded himself for the cure to your werewolf bite which you never…,"Addie trailed off, remembering why he had really went after Caroline and Tyler; to get _Elena_ to forgive him for feeding her his blood.

Damon went to kiss her, but he turned her head and he got her cheek. "Jealousy isn't attractive on you."

Addie was quick to retort, "You sure thought it was when it was over Katherine."

"You were being possessive then. Now, you're being jealous. Addie, I understand the insecurity you're feeling; I felt it when Katherine toyed with Stefan and me. I've already explained the way I feel about Elena and you _know_ it doesn't compare to how I feel about you. I'm not going to constantly defend myself. Can you accept that while I love you and I'm in love with you, a tiny part of me will always care about Elena?" he demanded. He wasn't going to deal with Addie doubting his feelings. It was a small step from doubting him to accusing him of cheating and he would never do that to her.

"Do I have a choice?"

"That depends. If you can't accept it then we can't be together. However, I don't want you to just say you're ok with it and not mean it because you want to stay together." Addie didn't respond after several moments. Suddenly he asked, "Did you write that thank you letter and send in the release form to London?"

"Yeah," Addie admitted quietly. "I don't want to leave my family and you behind with everything that's going on but I'd be a fool not to take this opportunity."

Damon nodded understandingly. Cupping her cheek he assured, "You're making the right choice. It's a chance of a lifetime. I hate to point this out but I know you're going to notice anyways and we need to be on the same page. You will be gone for half of the summer. Stefan is gone until further notice. Bonnie's with her family. And Alaric is half out of his mind with grief. I am the only option when it comes to someone watching out for Jeremy and Elena. Addie, I'm gonna watch them just as close as I would watch you because I know it would kill you if something happened to them. Now understand the close proximity your sister and I will be in."

Addie raised her eyebrows at him in surprise. "You think I'm going to think you're cheating on me?"

"Can you blame me? You know a small part of me will always have feelings for her, We both know my reputation. And if Elena really does have feelings for me… You can see how easy it would be to assume that I'm cheating on you," he explained disappointingly.

Addie scoffed, "You know that line that you always cross and I always forgive you for? Cheating on me is too far across the line for me to ever forgive you. I _do_ have an ounce of self-respect."

"I would never cheat on you," Damon insisted urgently. "I'm just afraid that-"

With a soft, "Shhh," she placed a finger against Damon's lips. When she was certain he wasn't going to talk, Addie buried her hand in the back of Damon's soft, raven hair and pulled him in for a kiss. His lips were soft and he tasted like toothpaste. When his cool hands nudged up her shirt to settle on her waist Addie shivered and felt her heartbeat quicken, His grip tighten when she caught his bottom lip between her teeth. There was a rumble in his chest as she bit gently at it. Satisfied, Addie took her hands off him and pulled away. Damon followed her, trying to continue the kiss. Teasingly she let her lips brush his in a near kiss before moving out of his reach.

"Tease," he muttered.

"That was not teasing," she laughed. "I know you're not going to cheat on me, especially with my sister. A small part of you feels for her but I know you care about me so much more. I know your reputation and it might have made me worry at first but I trust you. You hate seeing me upset. You'd hate yourself if you caused my pain. What I'm afraid of is my sister trying to make a move on you. She hurts me and gets you; two birds with one stone. _But_ that isn't going to happen."

Damon sighed, resting his forehead on her shoulder, "You seem so certain and confident in me."

"Mhm," she hummed in agreement, playing with her hair. "Should I not be?"

"It's going to be really lonely without you. I already miss you living here. I miss falling asleep with you in my arms. I miss seeing your face the moment I wake. I miss hearing about your day over dinner. I miss reading with you while you do your homework. I miss _you_. At least I get to see you but in just over a week it's going to be, like, eight weeks before I see you again. That's gonna be pure agony," he muttered. "I… at one point I never would spend all that time alone but now I'm willing to wait for you. I know how you make me feel and I know that I don't want to lose you. Bearing the loneliness is entirely worth the happiness I'll experience when you return. I just don't get how you have such faith in me. Or how you always understand me."

"You know why," Addie whispered.

"I know _why_ but I don't understand how you got to that place."

Addie laughed slightly, "Neither do I but I know how you make me feel so the why doesn't matter."

Damon gave a whiny groan,"Ugh! What am I going to do without you?"

"Don't worry; I'm sure my sister will stroke your ego."

* * *

May 18th,

The rise and fall of Damon's chest with each breath was mesmerizing. She'd memorize the image. Careful not to wake him, Addie softly lay her hand over his heart and felt the muscle pulsate beneath her hand in a steady rhythm. A rough guess put his pulse at almost 100 beats per minute. She'd memorize that and the way his heartbeat felt under her hand. Her eyes moved up to his face, taking in his strong jawline and angular features. She'd memorize them too. She'd memorize the slight pout of his bottom lip.

"You're staring," Damon muttered, his voice rough from sleep. He turned towards his nightstand and through one partially open eye looked at the clock. He groaned; he loved Addie but he did not care for her sleeping issues. "You're staring at me at three in the morning."

"Sorry," Addie whispered as she curled against and rested her head on his chest. Damon's hand stroked her hair. "Didn't mean to wake you."

He grunted in acknowledgement. He tried to go back to sleep but her finger tracking the waistband of his boxers was distracting. "Addison," he uttered sternly, effectively making her stop. Damon tried again to sleep but each time he was on the precipice her hand would move from his stomach to under her cheek to his waist. It was obvious that she was restless and wouldn't be sleeping any time soon. Knowing he would regret it Damon asked, "Why are you awake at three in the morning?"

Simply Addie answered, "It's eight in the morning. In London, at least."

"We are not in London. We are in Virginia where it is three. Switch time zones when you get to London. Go back to sleep."

"I can't. I'm trying to get my sleep schedule to fit with London hours so I don't have jet lag."

Damon groaned; of course his girlfriend would be anally obsessed with order. Addie wouldn't deal with jet lag like a normal person. No, she'd come up with some plan to fight it so her days and nights weren't out of sync because that would border on chaos. "Alright," he yawned in defeat. "You win. I'm up."

"Don't be ridiculous. Sleep," she urged.

"I can't do that with you staring at me or moving every two minutes."

"I'll go downstairs," Addie offered, moving to roll away from him.

Half asleep still, Damon's reflexes were slightly slowed but he still managed to catch her around the waist and turned so her back was flush with his chest. His lips twitched upwards as he caught a whiff of her cucumber melon shampoo as he laid his head closer to hers. "Nuh-uh. You're not going anywhere."

Despite scooting closer to him as he spooned her Addie protested, "You need sleep. I don't want you falling asleep driving me to the airport."

"I'll be fine," he asserted, moving her hair out of her face and off her neck. Damon placed a gentle kiss just behind her ear and smirked at the slight tremble that ran through her. "I'll have plenty of time to sleep when you're gone. What I won't be able to do is kiss you."

"How interesting," Addie gasped in mock awe. "I was not aware that I was gonna have to go forever without kissing my boyfriend. I should totally take advantage of the time I have now. But," Addie smirked, pulling her shoulder up to her ear, blocking Damon from pressing more teasing kisses, "it _is_ three in the morning and good girlfriend would insist that her boyfriend sleep."

Damon chuckled, "You realize we are both only good partners in the most dysfunctional sense? Thus, you being a good girlfriend would mean letting me kiss you."

"My God," she muttered, twisting on to her back and studying the wicked grin he gave her, "I just realized what it must be like for you half the time I talk. That made absolutely no sense. One thought had no logical connection to the other. It's like you forgot to say the majority of the conversation."

"Very annoying, isn't it?" Damon grinned, propping himself up on an elbow to look down at her.

She shook her head. "Not at all. It's rather endearing," Addie answered in a sweet, innocent voice. It was only because he knew her that Damon could detect the sarcasm.

His hand cupped the side of her face as his thumb swept over her cheek. The arrogant grinned had softened to a small smile of adoration. "It is endearing," he admitted sincerely. "It can be annoying, just like every other aspect of you, and drive me ten types of crazy but at the end of the day it's all endearing. It's what makes you my Ads. I wouldn't have you any other way."

"Do you know that you frustrate the hell out of me?" she asked lightly. Her hand slipped behind his neck and Addie gently pulled him closer.

"We both know that you'd hate me if I didn't bother you so much," Damon whispered. He kissed her cheek. Her forehead. Her eyelids. The corner of her mouth.

"We are so wrong."

"Mhm," he agreed, softly brushing his lips against hers. His mouth moved against hers as he murmured, "Neither one of us could function in a normal relationship. We are perfectly broken. We are so wrong, it's right."

Addie tilted her head, pressing her lips firmer against hie. Damon responded instantly, trying to convey everything he felt. It was a slow, lazy kiss. There was no rush to finish, to face the majority of the summer apart.

After several minutes Damon broke off the kiss with a whiny moan, resting his forehead against hers.

"What?" Addie whispered, his five o'clock shadow tickling at her palm.

Petulantly he decided, "I don't want you to go."

She scoffed at this in surprise. "You're the one who pushed me to do this. You practically packed my bags."

"I changed my mind. I want you to stay home and I can come and see you whenever I want."

 _Home._ Part of the reason Addie had decided to go was because of how bad the tension was at her house. It was a matter of time before her and Elena got into a fight as both were so angry. And Jeremy, who usually would have intervened to mediate, seemed to be on another planet. He wasn't doing drugs like after their parent's death but something was up with him. There was also the mess that was her history teacher sleeping on the couch. Her house felt more like a war zone than home. The only place that felt right was when she was with Damon, and that wasn't nearly enough due to how focused he'd been on tracking Stefan.

Addie pushed at Damon's shoulder until he was lying back on his side. Immediately his arm curled around her waist and his hand slipped under his shirt she wore. Damon wanted to move, to pull her closer, to kiss her, but the way Addie chewed at her lip told him something was wrong. He tried to figure out where he had screwed up but he couldn't find the moment. Giving up he inquired, "What's wrong?" She pushed at his shoulder again, guiding him to his back. "Ads?" Addie leaned over Damon and caught his lips. As much as he wanted to let her deepen the kiss, to feel her hand running across his chest, he couldn't let it happen. Cradling her face in his hands he gently pulled her mouth from his as he caressed her cheek. He repeated more insistently, "What's wrong?"

Confused, Addie stared at him blankly for a minute. What _was_ wrong? "Home," she muttered. "Home doesn't feel like _home_ anymore. It's just a house with four dysfunctional people. The love, the warmth, the desire to be there, missing home? None of that is there anymore. But you, when I'm with you I feel _everything_ I used to feel at home. I feel safe and warm and comfortable and special. I never felt _special_ at home; Elena was the special one at home. And with you I have a sense of peace or something; I don't know. I just know I feel less anxious. _With you_ feels like home should."

Damon leaned in quickly and firmly kissed her. The way her words had affected him was more than he could put into words. It was awful that she didn't have that sense of home with her family anymore but he couldn't help the way his heart raced knowing she felt it with him. To Damon, home was where a person is most comfortable, where someone ran to when everything else was wrong. He needed to be that for Addie if he had any real hope of her, of them making it through their fifteen year deal together.

When Addie went to part Damon's lips with hers he needed no encouragement. His hands fell from her face to her shoulders and down her back. Addie shivered at feeling his fingers work their way under the shirt. Though his touch was cool, he left a tingling, burning path as the tips of his fingers ghosted up her spine. Curling his fingers over a shoulder and grabbing her by the waist Damon made to switch position but Addie pushed firmly at the center of his chest. Fine; he could take a hint but Addie was mistaken if she thought he'd hand her control that easily. Damon asserted his intent of control by biting at her lower lip until she shuddered, nipping at the corner of her mouth.

Addie broke away from him smirking. She sat up and slung her leg over his waist. Damon eyed her warily as she seemed to consider something; Addie always seemed to see how far she could push him when she did that. Seeming to have decided she settled back on his upper thighs and grinned down at him. He watched as she took a finger and lightly scraped a line down the center of his chest. His abs tensed as she pressed harder as her finger ran through the dark dusting of hair that began at his navel.

"Addison," he warned as her finger dipped under the hem of his boxers. The crack in his voice must have dulled the effects of what he said as she simply looked at him innocently.

"Something wrong?" she asked lightly, leaving a path of fire as her warm mouth kissed lightly along his jaw. He didn't resist when she tilt and turned his head. Damon tensed at the jolt of lighting he felt travel through every bit of his body when she nipped at his earlobe. He felt himself twitch in excitement. His hands ran up and down her back, holding her against him as he exhaled sharply when she began to kiss along his neck. A groan ripped through him when she bit just below his ear.

Then he realized what was wrong, what Addie had been deciding about. He had always made sure that she was situated above his hips. Addie was definitely not above his hips and that was quickly becoming a problem. Damon desperately tried to focus on anything but the waves of pleasure that her mouth was generating. His voice was ragged and strangled as he growled, "You… are so beyond pushing the limit, Addison May."

"I don't know why you think saying my full name is necessary for me to listen to you," Addie noted thoughtfully. She shifted lower to kiss at his collarbone. "I'm not breaking any of your sex-proof rules," she taunted.

Damon forced himself to think strictly of his breathing. They both knew the only reason she wasn't rubbing against him was because of luck. "Come on, Ads," he tried to reason, "don't…" Don't what? Keep up the delicious torment on his neck? Stop playing with his hair? Quit running her hand teasingly over his chest?

"Don't what?" challenged Addie.

Damon moaned into kiss as she tugged gently at his hair. Don't what? That was a very excellent question. What point had he even been trying to make? Something about control? It had to have been about a power struggle; it almost always was. He knew he'd been upset. He groaned when she bit at his neck again, more lighting raced through his body. It was most definitely about control; Addie had far too much of it if he couldn't think straight. Holding her head so she wouldn't get hurt, Damon quickly flipped, pinning Addie on her back.

"Damn it, Damon!" she cried swatting at his chest. "That's not fair!"

Shifting his hips Damon snorted humorlessly. He remembered why he was upset. " _You_ were hardly playing fair," he countered, raising a disapproving eyebrow.

Addie rolled her eyes. "Did I break a rule? 're just upset that you lost control."

"I didn't _lose control_. You turn the key in the ignition and the engine's gonna start. Shifting from parked to drive would be losing control."

"Eww," Addie said sourly, as she pushed at Damon away. "I seriously cannot believe you compared sex to driving a car… in the middle of making out. Really, I can no longer see how I ever found you attractive. I am now convinced that the only way you gained your Playboy reputation is through compulsion."

He laughed, rolling onto his back, "I think you're being a little dramatic. And, for the record, I never compelled anyone into sex."

"Then everyone you have ever slept with must have been functioning on a single brain cell."

"Mmm… I admit that's true for the vast majority," he conceded. "Some had two brain cells. Although, in my defense, I've never had to stop the lead-up to sex. And nobody has ever challenged me to an exchange of wit while most of my blood was not flowing to my brain. So… yeah," he finished lamely, shrugging his shoulders.

Turning to face Damon, Addie gave him a sympathetic look and patted his cheek. "So, you get a free pass on that awful comparison?"

Damon flashed her one of his more charming, lopsided smiles. "We could do that. We can entirely forget that I said anything."

Addie shook her head and sighed heavily, "You know, I don't think that's possible. I think this moment is going to come up in conversation again and again."

"You know, I never would have said anything if you started off playing fair. You may not have broken any rules but you're guilty of unsportsmanlike conduct," he quipped defensively.

"Ooo! Technicality," Addie winced.

Damon smirked. "Technicality."

"God, why is it attractive that I can't beat your argument?"

"Because, occasionally, mostly when you're wrong, you've met your intellectual match," he suggested cockily.

"There can be no possible explanation as to why I find your arrogance attractive."

"Confidence is sexy."

Addie shook her head again an tsked. "You're not winning with that. You go right past confidence and go directly to arrogance. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200."

"Ok. I don't care _why_ ; the important thing is you find me attractive," Damon declared. When Addie gave him a small smile he leaned in for a gentle brushing of lips.

"I'm gonna miss you," Addie admitted.

He nodded, "I know. I don't want you to miss me too much, though."

"What do you mean?"

Damon hesitated; he knew how delicately he had to phrase what he wanted to say. To get an idea of what level of upset he was going to face he asked, "How rational are you feeling? On a scale of one to ten with one being 'not at all' how willing are you to listen to reason?"

"Um... I'm feeling pretty uneasy with your whole line of questioning which is kinda bringing me down to a seven."

"Well I need you at a ten."

"The fact that you require that already tells me that whatever you have to say is very irrational," she observed, trying to keep her tone light and conversational.

He cocked his head in acknowledgement. Damon wasn't entirely convinced his idea was rational but it was the right thing to do. He admitted, "It sounds that way at first but promise me you'll hear everything I have to say before you jump to conclusions."

Addie inhaled slowly. Whatever he was going to say was going to test her patience, undoubtedly. "I promise."

"I think we should breakup." After realizing how that sounded he added, "Just for while you're gone. I want you back after that. Of course, I want you now and while you're gone, too. Ok, 'breakup' isn't what I mean."

"What do you mean, Damon?" Addie asked sharply. First he strongly encouraged her into a relationship with him and now he wanted to end it?

Damon snorted humorlessly as he ran through his hair, "How do I still get so… flustered around you?"

Addie's lips purse. "Perhaps it's because you're proposing we breakup."

"That's not the right term. I just… You're young, Addie. Too young to be shackled to a fifteen year relationship, assuming neither one of us kills the other. You can't know if I'm what you want, not for sure. I'm the first guy you've been with. You have no idea of your other options. I know we say that we work because we argue but what if that's not what's best? What if you were with someone you didn't bicker with all the time? You can't know that you wouldn't like that better than being with me because you haven't experienced. I think you should take the summer and explore your options," Damon clarified, wincing at his own words. It actually made his chest hurt to think of Addie with anyone but him.

"You _want_ me to cheat on you?" Addie scoffed in disbelief. "You've lost your mind."

"I probably have," he agreed. "That doesn't mean I'm wrong though. You're spending your summer in a foreign country. That's suppose to mean a summer romance, probably with a guy who has a cheesy accent and drinks tea instead of coffee. I hate that idea," he laughed.

"Why are you even bringing it up then? I don't wan-"

"You don't know what you want," Damon interrupted sharply as he moved to sit against the headboard. "You _think_ I'm what you want but you don't know for sure. I know what I want; I've experienced something else many times to know I don't want it. You don't know anything else. I really wish I could keep you in the dark from all your other options but it's not right. Honestly, here I would probably compel away any guy who showed interest in you. I'm just that selfish. _I_ want to be the guy that makes you smile, wipes your tears, and struggles to keep up with your random thoughts and insane logic."

Addie sat next to him, resting her head on his shoulder. She was starting to see what he was getting at and she didn't like it. "You are that guy," she whispered.

"I know. What if there is someone who can do all that better than I can?"

"And I'm gonna find him in London over half the summer? Do you hear how crazy you sound?"

Damon nodded, "Yep. I'm telling the girl I love to go and be with someone else. I want her to go abroad and have fun and experience life without the burden of having a boyfriend."

"You're not-"

"Addie, just think about it. What's the harm? We're going to be 3,000 miles from each other, anyways.

Addie shook her head insistently. "No. Is that what this is to you? Something physical?"

He laughed, "You're kidding, right? I've been fighting with you to keep this from being something physical. My point is that you should get to experience being with other guys. I don't think I could watch that, is the perfect opportunity to experience that without me wanting to kill any guy who so much as looks at you."

She took his face in her hands and looked him in the eye. He was talking nonsense and he needed to understand her point of view. Slowly Addie enunciated, "Right now I have no interest in being with other guys. Damon, I knew what I was getting into when I agreed to a relationship with you. I know there isn't going to be any summer romances because no guy is even going to have time to catch my attention. You know how long it took me to decide that I liked you. I don't make rash decisions in my love life; everything is scrutinized and analyzed from every angle. I made my choice to be with you after a lot of thought. I'm not going back on that decision just because we won't see each other for a few weeks. I'm sure you think what you're doing is in my best interest but it's not. While you imagine me off having torrid love affairs what happens to you?"

"I wait for you to come home and if you still want me, that's great. If you discover that what we have isn't what you want then that's ok, too. I just want you to be happy. Look, I get if you don't want to stop or pause what's between us but what harm is there if something does happen with someone else while you're gone I'm not going to hold it against you?" suggested Damon.

"First of all, the harm is whatever you imagination spits out involving me and another guy. That is damaging. Second of all, how are we in a relationship when you don't care if I sleep with half of Europe?" Addie retorted in frustration.

Damon shrugged then thought, "It's an open relationship. A _temporarily_ open relationship. I have absolutely no intention of sharing you when you get back. This is a time for you to see what other fish are in the sea. What if you want an angel fish instead of the goldfish you won at the carnival?"

"God, now you're comparing people to fish," Addie muttered. Processing everything Damon was saying started up a mild headache. If she wasn't concerned about what _he_ would do, she'd simply agree just to end the topic. "I don't want an open relationship ever. You might be selfless enough to want me to go out and have these experiences but I'm selfish. Three thousand miles apart or not, I don't want you with somebody else."

Perplexed, Damon studied her critically. "You think I'm going to be with someone else while you're gone?" Addie's lips pressed into a thin, hard line. That was a yes. "Addie, I don't want anyone else, physically or emotionally. I know how lucky I am. I'm trying my best to not screw things up with you. Me cheating on you would be equivalent to an earthquake so intense and destructive that it can't be measure on the Richter scale."

"Ok. Here's my problem: how would me being with someone else while I'm gone be permissible but if you do it, it's cheating?" Addie pointed out. Perhaps she could logically end this ridiculous debate.

Damon was quick to answer, "Because I'm ok with you being with someone else while you're gone. I know that you would not be ok with me doing that; if it's something that upsets you it's cheating."

"Now how is that possibly fair to you?"

"It doesn't matter if it's fair. This summer isn't about _me_ it's about you exploring who you are and growing up. You should be able to do that without being tied to a guy. If something happens between you and someone else, that's fine. I would rather that happen when you're an ocean away and I don't have to witness it. If it happened here, then it would be cheating."

Addie scoffed, "You're logic is starting to make as much sense as mine does, meaning it's only rational in your head. Damon, nothing is going to happen for many reasons, one of which is that I would feel like I'm cheating on you. Can we please just settle this? We can go around in circles forever; that's not how I want to spend my last day with you."

"Alright," Damon conceded in defeat. "What do you want, Addie?" It was always what she wanted.

"Ok, I'll accept your 'if something happens' and you not holding it against me as long as you recognize that I'm going into this with the intent of nothing happening," she purposed.

"I can't convince you to go into this with an open mind of possibilities?"

Addie shook her head. "I can lie and say that I will. What I'm willing to compromise is that I won't shut down an opportunity for something but I will not actively seek anything out,"

"Fine," he accepted in resignation. It was a miracle that he had gotten her past completely rejecting his idea to accepting that she would explore something new if given the chance. There was no point in trying to push her to seek out new experiences.

"However, I will only do this if I know something isn't happening between you and someone else. It's not fair but I'm not exactly a fan of going in and forgetting that I have a boyfriend back home," Addie stipulated.

"Of course," Damon agreed quickly. It was a no brainer that he wasn't going to do anything that would hurt her like that.

"Ok, quick recap so we both understand what's going on. You will stay here and not entertain the idea of other relationships. I will go to London without feeling obligated to you if something arises with someone else; however, I will not actively seek out something," condensed Addie, explaining the compromise in the most basic way she could.

He nodded. It wasn't what he really wanted for her but it was better than her feeling tethered to him. "Correct."

* * *

"So, are we going to do an epic, Oscar worthy airport goodbye?" Damon asked as they turned from the ticketing counter where Addie checked in her suitcase.

"You have to be kidding," Addie decided as she ran her hand through her hair anxiously. Where on earth was the security checkpoint?

He caught her hand in his and steered her towards the left when she started to go right. Damon had used Dulles International Airport in D.C. enough times to have a general idea about the layout. Addie had insisted on making the four and a half hour drive so that she could get a direct flight and avoid a layover. He would have chosen the layover as being a lesser evil. She wasn't the one who would drive nine hours just to ship his girlfriend off for a greater part of the summer.

"I'm quite serious. Wouldn't be doing the proper boyfriend thing if I didn't. I was going to just do it but you're pretty bad with goodbyes. I figured the safest but was to ask," Damon admitted.

Bitterly Addie muttered, "That's because I never get to say goodbye. People just go off and never come back."

Damon squeezed her hand reassuringly. The death of John and Jenna was affecting her more than she would let on. "So, no epic sendoff?" he confirmed as he pulled her off to the wall directly across from security.

"I will find some wood and stake you if you do anything to embarrass me in the middle of a crowded airport," she threatened as she felt her anxiety increase.

"Aww!" Damon gushed. "I love you, too!"

Addie shifted uncomfortably; she still wasn't exactly sure how to react when he said that. She ran her hand through her hair again as she eyed the security line. "I don't think I want to go," she said quietly, clutching harder at Damon's hand.

"You're just anxious," he comforted her. His own anxiety undoubtedly compared to hers. She was too young to go off to a summer program alone in London. Who knew what kind of supervision she'd have? "Everything's going to be fine."

"You don't know that," Addie snapped back as she began to feel her heart slamming against her chance. She knew the anxiety was generating a false sensation. She had to calm down before she went into a panic attack. "What if I get hurt? What if I get sick?"

"That's why there are doctors and hospitals and the program requires you to have international insurance. It's a sophisticated city; you're not going to the Sahara desert."

Addie frowned at this. "If I was in the Sahara I would be alone. I'm going to be among 8.6 million people. People notice when someone goes missing in Mystic Falls within a day. How long is it going to take for someone to figure out if I've been kidnapped?"

"You have a roommate who I'm sure will find it suspicious if you don't show up after a night or two without notice. And I'm sure the program takes some kind of attendance. Just be smart, don't go wandering the city alone, make sure you're always in a group if you go out at night, ectera ectera."

"What if I get lost? Did I show you the tube map? That thing is confusing!"

Damon grabbed her gently by both shoulders and turned her to face him. Staring at the security line seemed to be making things worse. He was worried about all the things she was but he needed to be the one that kept their wits about them. His voice was firm, authoritative, "Addie, you can do this. You get lost and you take a taxi to where you need to go or you use Google Maps or that Citymapper app that tells you when the tube comes and everything." She opened her mouth but Damon shook his head. "No, listen to me. We talked about all of this. What's the first thing you're going to do after you land?"

"Um, get a sim card and make sure that whatever phone plan I choose has a lot of data so I can use the GPS if I get lost," Addie recalled, slowly feeling a little more relaxed as she elaborated.

"Right. We already looked at the airport map so you know where they sell them. Then you go and meet up with everyone else in terminal three. You land in terminal five so you take the train to three. I know you can follow the signs but if you need help there's a worker there to assist you about every ten feet. Don't be afraid to ask for help. When you meet up with the group they've got you from there. I know know you're going to be fine. You can do this. Remember that you can call me if you need anything at all and if you just want to. Worst case scenario is you are completely miserable and we book you a flight back home. That's not going to happen, though. You'll do great," Damon insisted. He wasn't certain if he was saying everything for her benefit or to try and convince himself.

Addie nodded and whispered, "Ok." Damon was right; everything would be fine, she just had to stay sharp.

Feeling slightly better about sending her off Damon reached for his wallet and pulled out the new debit card. Addie's eyeroll already told him she wanted to fight him on taking it. He tried, "Please, just take it."

"Damon, I have-"

"I know you've got way more than you'll need but I'll feel better knowing you have this," he interrupted as he made to put the card in her pocket. Her crossed arms were a clear sign of her disapproval. "Look, God forbid something awful happens or an emergency comes up but if it does you'll be covered for sure. Oh, and speaking from experience, a $150,000 watch at Harrods does count as an emergency and is a totally legitimate reason to use the card," Damon smirked.

"Wha - why - how can a _watch_ be $150,000?" Addie stumbled through in disbelief. Damon was more than a little brand obsessed but she never even thought he would buy something so frivolous for so much.

"It was a limited edition Rolex studded with diamonds."

Addie shook her head, still struggling to understand. It was a well known fact that all of the Founding Families were more than comfortably rich. From her parents and John's wills she calculated the Gilbert net worth at almost $5 million. It was that money that left her and her siblings monthly "allowances" of far more than they would ever need. But to drop that kind of money on a watch? She never really stopped and considered how wealthy Damon was. "How come I've never seen this watch?"

Damon rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. "I kinda lost it." Addie didn't need to know that he left it behind at some girl's place.

"Shocker," she muttered sarcastically. Her eyes wandered back over to the security line.

"You want me to compel my way to the gate with you?" he offered.

"No," she answered softly, her attention still on security, "that will just make saying goodbye harder."

"When do we do that?"

Addie turned back to him and gave him a small, sad smile. She shifted her backpack around so she could open it. After a minute of shifting through headphones, her laptop, and cables. she pulled out a small box wrapped in shiny red paper. Sheepishly she passed it to Damon, who stared at it in confusion. "It's called a birthday present," she tried to joke but her blush and nerves dulled the effect. They never actually exchanged gifts. "You're supposed to open it."

Damon felt the corners of his lips twitch upwards. The last birthday he celebrated was when he turned 23 a few months before he became a vampire. Every year was another year full of memories and experiences but he never saw reason to celebrate aging when he never would. "How'd you know it's my birthday?"

"You told me the date. I asked Stefan for the month. I feel pretty bad; leaving you for half of the summer doesn't make for the best birthday."

"You make it the best birthday," he said softly, pulling her into a hug. "I had honestly forgotten that it was today, Haven't exactly had cause to celebrate it in awhile. Thank you," he murmured, placing a kiss on her temple.

If she held on to him much longer she wasn't sure she'd let go. Addie pulled away reluctantly. "You haven't even opened it yet," she pointed out bashfully.

The box turned in his hand until he found where she had taped the paper together. Curious, he slowly peeled away the wrapping. What would Addie possibly give him? Damon shook his head in disbelief as he revealed the black box with embedded golden words _Santal Imperial_.

"I know it's not really a birthday present if it's something you already have but-"

"Where did you find it?" he wondered as he lifted the lid. It was the same frosted glass flask with a silver and grey stopper as the one he had at home.

"Yeahhhhh, you see your cologne doesn't have the name on the bottle or have a distinctive design. So I had to figure out what you wear by remembering what you smell like: ginger, cloves, and sandalwood. Luckily for me that isn't a very popular combination. You once mentioned that you haven't switched colognes in 150 years. That left me with one cologne that fit the profile. I have no idea where you find it but I finally found a little shop in Germany that sells it," Addie rambled nervously.

Damon nodded and mused, "It has become really rare. I can't believe you did that or figured it out."

Addie turned as red as the wrapping paper she took from him. "Well, I kinda, might have possibly knicked the little bit you had left at home. I couldn't exactly leave you without any." He tilted his head in confusion. "It...God, this sounds stupid."

"What?"

"You know I pilfered a couple of shirts for sleep. It's not the soft material that makes me like them. I like that they smell like you. So, I kinda took the cologne to keep them smelling like you," Addie rushed out in mumble.

Damon cupped her face with his free hand. Her eyes were that deep ocean blue that entranced him. "You're making it really hard for me to let you go."

Addie pushed herself up on her toes and gently brushed his lips in a light kiss. She gave him a forced grin and quipped back, "Don't worry; I'll be back before you know it. So, do me two favors. Don't die. And save Stefan before then. I don't think I can take the stress of anymore suicidally reckless plans."

"I'll try my best but no promises," Damon smirked.

"Seriously, Damon. Nothing stupid. I'd miss you too much."

"I promise I'll keep the danger to a minimum," he pouted like a chastised kid. He pulled her into another hug, holding her tight. "I'm gonna miss you, love." Damon made to kiss her but she placed a single finger over his lips before he could.

"Save that kiss. Save it for when I get back," whispered Addie. "Let's not do a goodbye, ok?"

Damon nodded and smirked, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I told you you were bad at goodbyes."

"You're a riot, Damon," she said solemnly, turning away from him and to the security line. As much as she wanted to look back she couldn't let herself. She needed to focus on her future. Damon would be there when she returned; she could stare at him all she wanted then.

Her hands trembled as she held out her boarding pass and student ID. Her heart leap to her throat when the agent scrutinized the ID and then her. She felt like a mute bobble head when he asked if she was under 16. Some of the anxiety receded as he returned her items and waved her past. She picked up two bins to send through the x-ray scanner. In one she put her laptop and the other her bag and shoes. Paranoid about setting of the metal alarm she patted down her pockets, tossing her cell phone and, after inserting the card from Damon, her wallet into her carry-on bag. She went through the metal detector and put her shoes back on and laptop back in her bag. Walking away from security, she checked her boarding pass again. Gate B51 so that meant right? Yes, there was a sign indicating that she did need to go right. When Addie found the gate there were only fifty people or so. Finding a chair flanked by two empty one she sat down and pulled her cell phone out. Only forty minutes before her flight. She and Damon must have been talking for a lot longer than she thought. There was no point in dragging her laptop out for such a brief time so she decided to mess around with her phone. Text Jeremy she made it to the airport and her gate, catch up on pointless updates on Facebook, played Sudoku.

In her peripheral view Addie could make out someone dropping into the chair on her left. "I'm a bit of a nervous flyer," came a calm, English accent after a few minutes. Addie didn't respond. Her anxiety was already running wild, she didn't need to add fuel to the fire by making small talk with a stranger. Just him sitting near her made her want to move. Something about him just seemed _bad_. She couldn't ignore the man when he stuck his hand in between her face and cell.

"I don't believe I've ever properly introduced myself. Niklaus Mikaelson. Most people just call me Klaus. A few special people call me Nik. You can call me whatever you like, Addison."

With her concentration broken from the bright screen Addie recognized what the bad sense coming from the man next to her was. She didn't want to run because someone sat by her. The darkness so black she'd only ever associated with Klaus made her want to flea. Niklaus Mikaelson. Nik Mikaelson. Her scholarship benefactor. She knew there was something wrong with the award notification; it had arrived three weeks late. Addie scowled down at the hand and muttered, "I'm not going to London, am I?"

The response was far less entertaining than he had anticipated. Klaus retracted his coolly remarked, "You must be going somewhere. They don't let you go beyond security without a badge or boarding pass?"

"Really?" Addie retorted, glaring into his cold blue eyes. "Which one do you have?"

He smirked, "They do make special exceptions for especially exceptional people."

She tilted her head back to stare at the ceiling. This was supposed to be her chance out of Mystic Falls and away from all the drama of fangs, full moons and spells. Anger replacing her anxiety she snapped, "What do you want, Klaus? What are you playing at?"

"I'm hurt that you think I'm playing at something. I simply dropped by to wish you luck and happiness at London College of Music's World of Music summer program," he said innocently, flashing her a bright, toothy grin.

Addie resisted the urge to ask why blood didn't stain his teeth the way red wine did. It was highly unlikely the Hybrid would appreciate her random questions about vampirism the way Damon did. Through gritted teeth she clarified, "The scholarship. What do you mean by it?"

Klaus' brows furrowed in mock confusion as he gently explained, "I heard you were interested in the program. With Elena and your aunt dead I figured you might enjoy some time away from Mystic Falls."

Right; he thought Elena had died in the sacrifice. She ran her hand through her hair as she tried to think. From what she knew of Klaus he didn't seem like the type for generosity. Hesitantly she asked, "So, you paid for me to go to some program because you feel guilty about killing my family?"

He bit back a laugh, "Of course not. Guilt is reserved for those who care. I gave you the scholarship because I'm highly invested in your future."

"What does that me?" she demanded. Any interest from Klaus was not wanted nor would it likely prove to be something positive.

He shrugged and evasively answered, "It would be a shame if I had to kill you where you to show up with your boyfriend in some heroic attempt to liberate his brother. Hopefully that nasty little business will be done by the time you return and you can live a normal, vampire free life."

Her eyes narrowed in suspicion as she recollected, "The envelope was date before you took Stefan, before you ever even in town."

Klaus waved a single finger at her, indicating that she was wrong. "I didn't take Stefan. We reached a compromise in exchange for your boyfriend's life."

"The envelope was dated before you knew me," Addie hissed. Semantics about why Stefan was gone were not of interest.

"I knew of you when I endorsed the scholarship. Isobel knew quite a bit about you and your family history."

She pinched the bridge of her nose as she fought to keep her temper. Only a true bastard would have the nerve to chat up the sister and niece of his murder victims. Addie tried again to get what she wanted, pressing, "Why are you invested enough in my future that you would give me a scholarship before knowing me?"

He smirked knowingly and taunted, "It's more a matter of therapy for a grieving mind. Your mental state is what I'm invested in. You would be of no use to me if you spiraled into such a miserable depression like you did after your parents died. You might get yourself killed."

Addie's mind flashed back to the night she first met Damon and he threatened to kill her. When she told him to do it. When his fingers crushed around her windpipe. Then he had stopped when she fought back. He let her use that beautiful face as a punching bag until she grew tired. After that night the misery and pain that had threatened to consume her began to ease. She wouldn't know until much later that he compelled her when he told her to take control of her life. The question was how did Klaus know that?

"I doubt you'll do anything as careless as that in London, though. I imagine you will be having far too much fun," Klaus continued, once it was obvious that she was at a lost for words.

"What," she said lowly, menacingly, "is in this for you?"

"Consider it a peace treaty."

"Yeah, ok. Sending me to England makes us even after you killed my family," she scoffed, rolling her eyes. All she wanted to know was what his end game was.

Klaus shook his head slowly, "Frankly, I'd be appalled if that was all it took for you to be ok with me killing them. No. I am giving you your peace offering now because when you return, it will not be to Mystic Falls but to me."

Addie laughed derisively at this. "You know, I knew there was something off about you when you started in on the whole human sacrifice thing but I didn't know you were batshit crazy."

He tilted his head in fascination and smiled slightly. "It's almost cute how you think I'm kidding."

A chill ran through her as she sobered up. "If you're serious and this is the price I have to pay to go to London, I think I'll enjoy a lazy summer in Mystic Falls," she snapped.

"Let me phrase it this way: you can leave with me now or you can join me after a wonderful time in London," Klaus hissed, the polite smile still intact.

"I don't see why I'd do either of those things," Addie shrugged dismissively, returning to the game of sudoku on her phone.

Easily he ripped the device from her grip, earning him an incredulous look. The girl was so foolish to be so arrogant and snide with him. Though it was part of what made her so fascinating. Another interesting part was her devotion. He smirked, "You'll do it because if you don't, I'll ensure your brother and boyfriend have similar fates as your sister and aunt."

Immediately a war begin to wage inside her. There was no doubt that Klaus would follow through on his threat. However, Jeremy and Damon were always going to be weaknesses he could use against her. As long as he threatened them she was just a marionette and he the puppet master. Perhaps she could make him think otherwise, though. Schooling her face to one of careful in difference she demanded, "How long would I have to endure your company to guarantee their safety?"

Klaus pretended to consider her question and mused aloud, "My goal is not to torture you. I simply want to observe you a bit. And I'd prefer to do that without any interruptions. Your boyfriend, if he hasn't already gotten himself killed trying to save Stefan will most certainly try if he knows I have you."

"I see what you're getting at. I'm not moronic enough to tell him something that will lead to him embarking on another suicidal mission. I would be doing this to keep him alive; telling him would defeat the purpose," she sneered.

"Glad we're in agreement that he shouldn't intrude on our time together," the Hybrid gleamed glibly. "You probably wouldn't want to tell anyone else. They'd likely relay it back to him. See, as much as this is about you, it's also about Damon. I'd say he got off pretty easy getting my blood. He didn't really pay for making you almost lose him."

Addie paled. "Why does that… how is anything between Damon and me any of your business?"

He peered at her curiously, "Haven't you realized you are my business and thus Damon is by being an extension of you? Like I said, I'm interested in you mental welfare. Damon did quite a bit of damage to that when he got himself bit. I doubt he understands just how much damage would have occurred were he to have actually died. Bad behavior should not be positively reinforced. Damon needs to suffer for what he did to you in hopes that he will not be so reckless with his life in the future, if simply for your sake. He will feel an iota of what you would have felt upon his death when he does not hear from you after the program ends."

Slowly, she was beginning to process what Klaus wanted. It made no sense but rationality and insanity didn't usually pair well together. Addie needed to refocus the conversation. "When do I get to go back to Mystic Falls?"

"By the time school starts," Klaus decided after a moment's thought.

"I go to England, come back July 16th to wherever you say, stay with you, then be back home in time for school to start and in exchange Damon and Jeremy stay safe?" she checked.

Klaus nodded, "And you are not to speak of this plan to anyone."

"What do I say when people ask why I won't be back on the 16th?"

"I don't really care as long as it's not the truth. The goal of this is generate pain in Damon by having him not know where you are and if you're ok."

Addie grimaced; the last thing she wanted was to hurt Damon but the only way to keep him safe seemed to play along with Klaus. It wouldn't likely amount to much but she questioned, "Are you a man of honor? A man of your word?"

"Yes, though I would probably tell you that even if I wasn't."

It was as good as she was going to get. "Do you I have your word that Damon and Jeremy will be safe and I will be home in time for school?"

"Yes," he assured her, sticking out his hand to strike the deal.

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you new readers and old! Comments, favorites, and follows are better than cupcakes!**

 **Yes - I know how the school system works in the UK. In this universe classes are done by May 18th. Personally, I was always done by March 31st.**


	2. Chapter 1

With the heavy, navy curtains drawn over the window, the lights off and the little plastic glow-in-the-dark stars above her bed Addie could almost imagine she was back in her room at home. The bedding was all wrong though. Damon had switched the jersey cotton sheets she'd packed for a silky, crimson bedding set, much like the one he had. The linens even smelled like his once she had spritzed some of his cologne on them. Ginger, cloves, and sandalwood filled her nose as she buried her face in the squishy pillow she had been provided with. Addie wasn't certain if feeling like she was in Damon's bed made missing him worse or better.

The right thing to do was to call Damon, thank him for the bedding and the glow-in-the-dark stars, let him know that she had survived her flight across the Atlantic, successfully met up with the coordinators of London College of Music's World of Music summer program, and was settled into her room. That's what they had agreed she'd do before she took off but so much had changed from the moment she arrived at her departure gate. Damon was expecting to pick her up from the airport in two months. How was she going to explain that, instead, she would not be talking to him from July 16th, until she returned in time for school? Klaus wanted Damon to worry about her but she didn't want to do that to him. She needed to figure out a way to tell him that she'd be ok, she just couldn't contact him? If she tipped him off that she'd be with Klaus he would definitely get himself killed.

The sound of the door opening made Addie tense and her eyes burned as the light flipped on. She blinked several times trying to adjust to the brightness. Her roommate hadn't been at the orientation but they had apparently arrive. Once her eyes adjusted Addie moved off the bed to stand. Immediately she sensed a vibe from the beautiful blonde who dragged in two large pink suitcases; the girl wasn't dark but more of a snow cloud grey. Wearily, Addie leaned back against the desk on her side of the room and waited to be noticed.

Once the girl had her luggage in the room and shut the door she turned to scrutinize the room. "My God. This is the size of a closet," she scoffed haughtily in a polished English accent. Her eyes narrowed in on the made bed before focusing on Addie. "I see you already took the bed by the window."

Great. It seemed like she was going to spend the next two months sharing a room with an English version of Caroline. Not only that, but she would be _working_ with her. Room assignments worked with one student that had been enrolled in the Music Production program and another student that was enrolled in the Music Performance or Composition program. The start move was to make friendly but Addie was keeping her guard up; this girl was a vampire.

Addie raised once shoulder carelessly as she crossed her arms and offered, "I'll switch beds if you want. I just picked this one so you wouldn't have to climb all over my stuff when you got here."

"It doesn't matter," the girl decided, lifting a suitcase onto the bed opposite of Addies. "I don't plan on spending much time in here anyhow."

The suitcase seemed to to be a bottomless pit as Addie watched her move pair after pair of shoes to the small wardrobe on her side of the room. She frowned as she saw there were no sneakers, particularly Converse. It could prove a real challenge for her to work well with the vampire. When the girl pulled out the hangers that had been left in the closet Addie decided to speak up again, "I'm Addie. Clearly, I'm the one in the Music Production program. Are you Performance or Composition?"

"Rebekah. I sing. I don't write. You'll be doing the composition," the girl dictated as she spared Addie a glance before returning to hanging a yellow top.

The hard, greyish blue of Rebekah's eyes caused a tightening in Addie's stomach. She had seen those eyes before, on another vampire. It seemed Klaus wanted to keep an extra close eye on her. Addie wondered if she could get the girl to confess about who and what she was. If she did, perhaps there could be a type of peace treaty. If the girl lied, it was going to be a long two months.

"That's cool," she responded lightly. Addie wasn't particularly fond of commands, particularly from vampires but civility would make things a lot easier. Besides, she liked composing and arranging her own music; hopefully Rebekah had decent vocal skills and a wide range she could work with. "Anything else I should know about you?"

Rebekah smiled as she shoved the empty suitcase under the bed and began to unpack the next one. Klaus didn't tell her whether or not to reveal what or who she was. If Addie knew, there was the chance that she wouldn't trust her no matter what. If Rebekah acted just like any other teenage girl, though, she could possibly make a real friend. "Yes," she decided. "We are going to have loads of fun together."

The idea of an English Caroline was _almost_ bearable. But Addie wasn't about to have fun with a deciever. "Sounds like a plan. You should know, though, I'm on vervain. You can't eat me. You can't compel me," Addie smirked. That wasn't entirely true though. Rebekah couldn't compel her because no vampire coould. And, apparently, because Damon was the one to coach her into resisting compulsion, he was the only one that could drink her blood. The sample of Addie's blood he had given Caroline had caused her throat to burn.

Feigning to arrange her toiletries under the side of the sink Addie had left for her, Rebekah considered how she wanted to respond. Acting like she didn't know what Addie was talking about was a possible option; she could be paranoid and think everyone was a vampire. Klaus might have told Addie that Rebekah would be watching her, though, and if she lied, she definitely wasn't going to make friends with the girl. Figuring out what Addie knew was the most important thing. Rebekah straightened up, her eyes narrowed at Addie suspiciously and demanded, "What do you know?"

"I know you're a vampire. Everything else I think is just speculation," Addie admitted.

Rebekah's lips pursed in annoyance, causing the other girl to smirk. "What do you speculate?" she sneered.

"I've seen eyes like yours before. I know the man that possesses similar eyes has six siblings. I speculate that he must have a sister due to mathematical odds. I speculate you are Klaus' sister and are here on his bequest," Addie concluded wisely. She picked up her laptop from her desk and settled back on her bed, very aware of the vampire studying her.

Thinking of how to proceed, Rebekah went to reach for the necklace she always wore before remembering that it was lost. After 1000 years it was lost; she still couldn't believe that. Transparency seemed best as she already concluded the worst. Sitting on her bed, Rebekah scowled, "His bequest isn't exactly accurate. He daggered me in the 1920s only to wake me and give me an ultimatum, get daggered again or come here. I don't fancy the idea of two months at some music program watching my brother's newest fascination but I had no idea when he would undagger me again."

"Gotta love the idea of an Original babysitter," muttered Addie, opening up her Facebook.

"I'm not here to babysit you. Nik wants me to make sure you have a fun time and don't mourn over your sister the whole time or waste your time thinking of your boyfriend," Rebekah clarified. "So, I insist that we have a grand time."

Addie gave her a bored look before continuing to type her message to Jeremy and letting him know she had made it safely. Skeptically, she asked, "Why do you insist that?"

"If you have a good experience I get to see Stefan." Any darkness or negative energy Rebekah was generating seemed to dissipate. Klaus really had sent his sister to make sure she had a good time. If Klaus was holding something over her, like being daggered, and offering her something she wanted, Stefan, she was just as much his victim as Addie was.

A lead weight of guilt settled in her stomach. Stefan was still with Klaus. And she'd left Damon to track down his brother on his own. He never would have abandoned her if it was Elena who had been dragged off with the insane hybrid. Wait. Rebekah had said something important. Addie studied her for confirmation as she asked, "You know Stefan? How do you know Stefan?"

"He, Klaus, and I spent the 20s together in Chicago. We were quite… close."

"That's impossible. Stefan doubted whether or not Klaus was even real," Addie recalled as she remembered the first time Klaus' name came up. Had that really been less than two months ago? It felt like the threat of Klaus had lasted a year.

Rebekah frowned as she moved to finish unpacking. He brother was a manipulative little bastard. As she fished out her pink and purple sheets and began to put them on Rebekah explained, "My brother compelled Stefan to forget about us."

That didn't make sense to Addie. Klaus seemed like the type of person who loved to leave a lasting impression. Sensing something off, Addie asked, "Why would Klaus do that?"

"Klaus gave me the option of going with him or staying with Stefan. For picking love I got daggered and Stefan loss his memory of us," the vampire answered bitterly.

Addie ran her hand through her hair as she sensed something _foggy_ from the other girl. It wasn't dark and malicious but it told her there was more to the story than Rebekah let on. There was a real reason Stefan had lost his memory of _them_. If Klaus was trying to be vindictive to Stefan, he would have left him memories of pining for someone he couldn't have. Erasing those recollections would be a gift; a bad one, but it would free Stefan from pain. There was no reason for Klaus to make Stefan forget him in Rebekah's situation. Addie debated on whether or not she wanted to call Rebekah out on her lack of the full truth. Only Damon knew she could detect when a vampire was trying to fool or deceive her and he had suggested that they keep it that way. Rebekah might question how Addie knew she wasn't telling the whole truth. Addie could just say she knew how to read people. Though, confronting her might not be the best idea as they had to spend the next two months together. That didn't make her any less curious about why Klaus had messed with Stefan's memory and had never brought it up over the course of their drama with him.

"I can see that," Addie lied as she sent Jeremy a message with her new telephone number. She started a group message to send it to Caroline and Bonnie, too. With international calling rates and her aversion to using the phone, it was highly unlikely anyone would call but there was always the chance of an emergency. "Klaus seems like he needs a lot of attention."

Rebekah laughed, "That is an understatement."

"So, if you've been daggered since the twenties how are you hip to technology?" Addie wondered. "I mean, you're not staring at my laptop like it's some alien device."

"My brother Elijah had the task of catching me up on everything 21st century," she answered, a hint of sadness in his voice.

Addie's lips pursed together in distaste. Sounding carefully detached she observed, "I almost forgot Klaus promised to reunite Elijah with his family."

"Yes, Klaus started with returning me to Elijah. Then, once he was done using Elijah, he reunited him with the rest of the family," Rebekah remarked in disgust. She elaborated at Addie's questioning look. "Over the centuries Klaus has daggered all of my siblings. That's why Elijah wanted to kill Klaus; he thought Klaus had actually killed everyone. He didn't know we were all just daggered. As soon as Elijah caught me up, Klaus daggered him, just like my other brothers."

"He really should have just ripped out Klaus' heart when he had the chance," Addie muttered to herself. "The world would have one less psychotic, serial killing, narcissistic vampire. Well, hybrid."

"Klaus did find it quite amusing that you had the nerve to call him that to his face."

Looking up, Addie remembered that Rebekah was Klaus' sister. At least she didn't seem to hold a grudge against her for trying to kill her brother. "Technically, I told it to my history teacher's face. Klaus just happened to be possessing him at the time. Though, I did know it was Klaus. That probably wasn't one of my wiser decisions."

The Original giggled, pushing her second suitcase under the bed, done unpacking. "He did say you tend to have a smart mouth. I think he doesn't really know what to do with that. Klaus is used to having everyone respect, fear, and revere him."

"I don't reserve the wisecracks for just Klaus. I don't discriminate. However, it is particularly satisfying catching the bad guys, such as Klaus, Damon, and Katherine, off guard with a deprecating comeback," Addie noted. It was possible that she may have been slightly hypocritical when she chastised Damon about stupid and reckless behavior.

Rebekah broke into a huge grin as she sat on the foot of Addie's bed. The girl eyed her warily; she would prefer if they didn't have to have the whole personal space discussion she always had to have with Caroline. "Damon's the one Klaus saved," Rebekah stated.

Addie shrugged contemplating, "In exchange for Stefan's freedom, Klaus' blood cured him. I don't really know if I'd consider that as Klaus saving Damon."

Some days, with Stefan lost, Damon seemed as if he preferred death than having his little brother be a slave to Klaus. She didn't know what to say to him on those days. Those days were the ones where she worried most about him. Tracking down every possible lead, no matter how useless it seemed, running off after Klaus, doing whatever suicidal plan that came to his mind to save Stefan, those were all _Damon_ behaviors. When he was like that, Addie knew he was going to be ok, provided he didn't get himself killed. On the other days, she feared that the grief was going to consume him. Even if he wouldn't say it, Addie knew Damon felt guilty about the situation with his brother. That guilt, which seemed to be growing the longer Stefan was away, ignited a fear in her. Damon told her how guilt made him turn off his humanity before. She didn't think he was that overwhelmed yet but she didn't know how long he would hold out. Would Damon hold on to the hope of saving Stefan long enough to actually do so or would the combination of guilt and lack of progress get to him first?

Rebekah waved her hand dismissively, as if it didn't matter as to how Damon survived. "He's Stefan's brother."

"Yes," Addie drew out slowly, forcing herself to hold back a sarcastic comment.

"Klaus described him as crazy, impulsive, and utterly, disgustingly smitten with you. Is that true?" the vampire inquired, leaning in towards Addie as if they were exchanging secrets.

She couldn't help the twitch of her lips. Addie wondered if Klaus viewed Damon as "disgustingly smitten" for the same reasons she did. Like when he had sat outside her door the night Bonnie "died" to trick Klaus because he was afraid that she would have a nightmare. Or how he changed the preset lock combination so that all the numbers reflected something about her when he decided an actual lock was needed to keep the dagger Elijah in the cellar after the incident with the Martins. Nobody in the right mind took the time to change a preset combination. Or how the password to his phone was the numerical day of the month they were each born. Or, most disturbingly, the fact she made him feel more in touch with his humanity and it's became hard for him to do that when they were not in a good place. He'd cited that as being why he showed so little regard to killing the Martins; they had been fighting since he daggered Elijah when he promised her he wouldn't.

"No," Addie decided. "Damon skips right over crazy and is insane. He's not impulsive; he just has ideas that range from bad to suicidal and acts on them before turning them into actual plans. But he is completely and utterly in love with me in a way that borders on irrational and is most definitely disgusting."

"No love is rational and no love is disgusting," Rebekah insisted.

Addie's lips pressed into a thin line. Before Damon she hadn't even believed in love. To her love was something that once felt, it could not be unfelt, no matter how awful the other party may act or what challenges may be faced. There was no doubt in her mind that Damon loved her. He, himself, had said that he thought he knew love with Katherine and Elena but what he had felt with either of them failed to measure up against how he felt about her. While Damon had done some truly deplorable things and Addie forgave him time and time again, she still feared that he could do something so awful that she'd entirely stop caring for him. Damon was in love; she cared far too much for him.

"Perhaps no love is rational," conceded Addie. "There are parts of Damon's love that are disgusting, though. Rather, there are aspects that are so _sweet_ that they are sickening. When Damon is sweet he gets needy and smothering and…. I never would have gotten involved with Damon if he was a sweet guy; I don't like him like that."

Rebekah studied her curiously. "He's quite different from his brother, then?"

Addie snorted in amusement, "Stefan is a pure saint. Damon is troubled and damaged and has a moral compass that does not point north. Stefan is reserved and collected while Damon is a slave to his emotions."

The Stefan Rebekah had known was no saint nor was he reserved. Interesting. "Do they look alike?"

"Not at all. At least not to me. Damon has this beautiful jet black hair. His eyes are - hold on," Addie sighed as she pulled out her cellphone. There was no way she could do justice to Damon's beauty. She scrolled through the device looking for a good picture of him. While she had an aversion to the camera, Addie allowed him to finally start taking pictures of them when it was established that she wouldn't get to see him for two months. Eventually she settled on a picture he had taken one morning before she had woken up. There was no way she would have allowed him to snap a shot of her curled up against his bare chest otherwise. Slightly anxious about sharing such a private moment, Addie hesitantly held out the phone to the other girl.

"Oh, wow. You two are adorable together," Rebekah insisted as she held the phone. It was no wonder why she hadn't tried to explain those hypnotizing, beautiful blue orbs. "He is gorgeous."

"Yes but don't tell him that. He's already more than aware of that and does not need his ego further inflated," Addie smirked.

Rebekah passed back the device debating her next words. Did she bring up how Klaus had mentioned Damon was in love with her sister and then to move on to give her condolences and apologize for her brother? No, it would just be best to keep the topic on Damon, though she was supposed to be making sure Addie didn't miss him so much. "I can see why my brother doesn't fancy you with Damon."

"Please, enlighten me because I do not understand at all. I wasn't aware he even had a problem with it. I don't see why it or I am any business to him in any manner."

The vampire giggled, "Nik isn't fond of anyone more handsome than himself. As for his interest in you, I can't explain it. All I was told is that you are special. I think Nik was particularly eager to dagger Elijah because he didn't agree with what Nik was doing. Elijah does not approve of what Nik has done nor does he endorse any of Nik's interference in your life."

Bitterly Addie replied, "I'm inclined to agree with Elijah. Personally, I'd much rather it be Klaus daggered."

"Are you not happy to be here?" Rebekah asked perplexed.

"No, I'm not," she admitted quietly. "I applied to _earn_ my spot here. Even if you aren't applying for a scholarship you still have to be admitted based on an evaluation of your skills. I did not earn a scholarship and I will never know if I could have made it into the program on my own merit thanks to your brother. I could be completely unqualified for this and may certainly make a fool of myself in front of everyone.

"Besides that, I don't appreciate being blackmailed into spending my summer with Klaus. He's insane to think this is a _peace offering_ in exchange for forcing me be with him when I return. I am most definitely not happy to be here if that is the price I must pay."

* * *

"There has to be more to this dress," Rebekah called out from the changing from.

Addie snorted as she filled in another cell of Sudoku on her phone, "You know, that's what I always say but it always turns out that there never is."

After three days of orientation and introductory classes and a day long scavenger hunt all across the city organized the program that made them familiar with the tube system and central London, Rebekah decided that the clothes Elijah had picked out for her were definitely not compatible with the contemporary fashion trends for teenage girls. She decided an immediate change in wardrobe was necessary. For some reason Addie had agreed when the Original demanded that she accompany her. Rebekah, while bossy and entitled as Addie had initially anticipated, proved to be decent company. Though, Addie suspected she only liked the other girl because it meant that she only had to pretend to listen rather than try and make conversation.

Rebekah appeared in a short, black cocktail dress. Second item down and one hundred to go. Addie had not realized that she had signed on to watch a runway show. Rebekah really was an English Caroline, if a bit more conceited and whiny. Though, she lacked all the perkiness of Caroline, which was what really annoyed Addie about the other girl.

"So women in the 21st century dress like prostitutes, then?" she scoffed.

Bored, Addie glanced from her phone to the dress. By modern standards it wasn't that provocative. She clicked her tongue and shook her head in mock disappointment. "You've been walking around almost three weeks. _You're_ the one who thought the conservative clothes Elijah picked made you stick out. Really, you have to choose between fashion and comfort."

"You're mildly fashionable without looking like a harlot."

Fashionable would be the last thing she would call herself, Addie decided as she looked down at what she wore. Dark skinny jeans were in style, as was her purple cowl neck tank top. Her dark denim jacket was a hit or miss. The purple Converse were a fashion no, at least when paired with her outfit. But she would always wear Converse.

"I have no sense of fashion. I had my own stylist," Addie reflected sourly.

In a desperate attempt to rid the town of vampires she had struck a deal with Katherine. Addie was to grab Damon's attention which, in theory, drew Elena's jealous attention. She was never certain whether making Elena jealous was about causing problems between her sister and Stefan so Katherine could take the vampire for herself or if having Elena's attention on Damon was about making Stefan focus on his own relationship. Katherine said she was using Addie to keep everyone distracted from what she was up to with Mason Lockwood and the moonstone. In exchange, Katherine would make sure Stefan and Damon left town when she finished what she was doing.

Part of Katherine's _instructions_ on attracting Damon involved a complete makeover, including a more feminine wardrobe, a small diamond nose stud, a belly button ring, and dying her hair _plum maroon_. It was really purple and it was the only part of the makeover that was slowly fading out. Katherine and Addie had come to a compromise on most of the clothes but there were still a few pieces hanging in her closet with the tags. And Addie hadn't tossed the clothes out once she was done _working_ with Katherine because, by that point, she was interested in what appealed to Damon.

When Addie had approached Damon and told him she had made a deal with Katherine that would result in him not being in Mystic Falls he had responded quite well. He said Katherine's plan gave him the excuse he had been looking for to spend more time with Addie. Damon hadn't been the least bit mad; he only asked how they were going to convince Katherine that Addie was really working with her. For a while, Addie wasn't sure if she was playing Damon or playing Katherine. But somehow, along the way in helping her do everything Katherine wanted, in acting like he had fallen for her despite still being in love with Elena, she saw another side of Damon. There was a Damon that truly cared about her, a Damon that wouldn't let her die for failing to meet Katherine's demands. They worked together from a few days after Katherine came to town until Damon locked her in the tomb. Despite all their bickering and fighting through that journey they found each other.

"You know, I got dirty looks for wearing trousers."

Coming back from her memories, Addie cocked her head at Rebekah. What was she cross about now?

"Trousers. You know, pants," the blonde huffed impatiently.

Right, women dressing like prostitutes. "And now woman get dirty looks if they don't wear next to nothing," Addie shrugged. "Men are just a frustrating lot. They want you conservative. They want you to work at Hooters."

"What?"

She shook her head. "Nothing."

Rebekah's face scrunched up in disgust. "And what is this music? It sounds like a cable car accident."

For a minute Addie stopped and listened to the techno music. Being in Production, they had listened to a few songs composed completely on a synthesizer the first day of class. The same material must not have been covered in Rebekah's vocal performance couldn't help but not that the music did sound a bit like wheels squealing on a train track. "It's a bad example of dance music."

"People dance to this?" the vampire gawked, looking appalled.

Addie nodded as her phone started to vibrate. A lump formed in her throat as she looked at the caller ID. "Why don't you try some more things on?" she suggested, standing up. "I gotta take this call."

Addie headed off to a more secluded area, not wanting Rebekah, or anyone, to overhear the impending conversation. Just as her phone was about to go to voicemail she answer, "Hello?" Addie waited for the angry voice but only heard silence. She checked to see if the call was still connected; it was. Anxious, she whispered, "Damon? You there?"

"I'm here," he answered, his voice flat and cold.

Her teeth gnawed at her bottom lip nervously as she waited for him to say something. She had never found the courage to call him that first day and every day after that it just became easier not to. Addie had no clue how to tell him that she couldn't be coming home when they had originally planned. Telling him the truth about how she would be spending the rest of her summer once the program was over wasn't an option. Lying to him wasn't something she felt entirely comfortable with. Plus, Addie couldn't come up with a single, logical lie that would make sense and that Damon would believe.

Eventually he said, "I've been here since Tuesday, when you were supposed to call and check in. Where have you been?"

"How did you get my new number?" Addie wondered, trying to avoid confrontation.

"Well," his voice was full of a bitter humor, "Jeremy mentioned something about you liking one of your classes and I had to ask a question I never should have needed to in the first place: how did he know? Then I found out you've been talking to him on Facebook. I discovered you gave him your phone number to reach you in case of an emergency. And after two days of refusing, he finally told me in exchange for the power cord to his computer. Funny, huh?"

Addie ran her hand through her hair anxiously and shifted her weight uncomfortably. She muttered the only words she could come up with, "I'm sorry."

She heard Damon sigh loudly and imagined him running a hand over his face in frustration. Quietly, he demanded, "Exactly what are you sorry for, Addison? For not calling when you got there safely and settled, like we agreed? For making me panic and worry about you? For not giving me a way to contact you so I know you didn't get killed in the mob of 8.6 million people? For what?"

Pinching the bridge of her nose Addie settled on how she was going to handle not coming home when expect. It was gonna hurt him but it would keep him from getting himself killed trying to save her from Klaus. She had to start planting the seeds early to make it believable. Sincerely she apologize, "I'm sorry, Damon. I should have called you right away and I didn't. I'm sorry." Then the lies. "The first day was just an explosion of so much new information and after all the orientation and stuff, I was just so overwhelmed and tired once I finished unpacking that I just fell asleep. Then lessons started the first thing the next day. I wanted to call you afterwards but you wanted me to go into this willing to experience new things. I realized I couldn't do that if I was calling you every night because I missed you so I forced myself not to call. It just completely slipped my mind that I _hadn't_ checked-in with you and that you might be worrying. I just… Damon, I'm so sorry." He didn't say anything for a long time. "Damon, please…"

"I'm not mad. I know how you can be when you get overwhelmed. And I understand not calling every time you miss me." He was silent again. She heard him messing with something. There was the klink of a glass on wood, most likely a tumbler. Her stomach twisted uncomfortably with guilt. When Damon spoke again she had to strain to hear, "Ads, I thought… I was more scared about how you were than I was when I was about to die. You have no idea…"

"I'm sorry," she repeated, not knowing what else to say.

"Just… can you try to contact _someone_ at least once every other day? I get if you don't want me in your head constantly but you're in mine. I need to know that you're ok. Can you just send Jeremy a message letting him know you're ok? I need to know if I should be worried or not. Ads, I'm not trying to babysit you but I can't go through not knowing if you're alright again." He sounded tired.

The knot in Addie's stomached tightened. How many times had she worried about? It had been so selfish of her to do that to him. "I promise I'll do a better job of keeping in touch," she reassured him. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"I know. So, how is it?" he said brightly but she could hear the falseness.

 _Fine. Klaus' sister is my roommate so there goes my escape from vampires. Oh! And I won't see you until the end of summer because I'm practically going to be that hybrid freak's hostage._

Addie tried to keep her tone light and guilt free as she told him, "It's great. I went with a group all over London on a scavenger hunt yesterday. Tonight I'm going to go see the longest running play, _The Mousetrap._ It's a who dunnit so it should be good."

Damon laughed. It was a damn good play but Addie would not like it. Surely she thought she could figure it out using logic and reason just like one of her crime novels but no. He wished he could be there just to see her reaction. "That's great, love. It's an excellent play. You're not gonna go alone, are you?"

After a brief hesitation she admitted, "No, this guy in my class, Alex, suggested it so I'm gonna go with him."

A guy. Already. That was _awesome_. But it was what he had pushed her to pursue. Damon poured himself another scotch as he replied in a strained voice, "Good. That's good. I'd, uh, be worried if you were wandering around by yourself at night."

"Yeah. And Alex is _so_ hot. Really tall, blonde hair, gorgeous green eyes," Addie gushed, rolling her eyes.

"Mmm."

"You reek of jealousy; I can smell you 3000 miles away. He's gay, Damon."

"I'm not jealous," he protested. "I'm concerned about your welfare."

She nodded and sarcastically emphasized, "Right. Gotcha."

"I'm - go have fun and check in in a couple of days," Damon grumbled.

Addie giggled; she'd never heard Damon be jealous before. Not over her, at least. "Ok. I'll talk to you soon."

"Alright. I love you."

Suddenly remembering she added, "Oh! Thank you for the bedding. The mattress doesn't compare to yours but that doesn't matter when all the sheets feel like yours. And I loved the glow-in-the-dark stars; it makes me feel like I'm back in my room."

Damon grinned, satisfied to know those little things brought comfort to her. "What kind of ceiling?"

She shook her head, surprised that he had remembered why she had thought about putting stars in his room. "Flat, like yours. Thankfully it wasn't popcorn like mine. The stars become so much more of a hassle to stick."

* * *

 **A/N: How is Rebekah going to make sure Addie has a good time? Any suggestions? Please comment. I'd love to hear who is a new reader and who has decided to continue their journey with Addie and Damon. Also, do you guys prefer shorter chapters (about this length) with more frequent updates or longer chapters with an update every 7-10 days?**


	3. Chapter 2

"I still have no idea as to what any of those dials do," Rebekah remarked as she watched Addie fiddle with a dial on the big, metal box.

Addie sighed as she adjusted the gain from the cymbals she had recorded earlier in the week. A loud, overly bright crash echoed the her left headphone, leaving the right one off so she could still hear her roommate. She twisted a knob at the top of the 16 channel mixer; definitely less cymbals. Turning back to her laptop Addie restarted the drum mix. While there were seven recording studios available to students it was very difficult to find a room that wasn't occupied at any time when fifty teams all had to churn out a whole song each week. Addie had found a way to cope with it, though. Each week their assignment was to produce a song of a different style or genre. On Fridays the following week's project would be announced first thing in the morning. She would spend all of Friday writing out her ideas. Around two in the morning on Saturdays and Sundays she could usually find an open studio to do her instrumental recordings as everyone else was out. For the first couple of weeks she had tried mixing in the studios but it was really cutting into when she should be sleeping so she broke down and bought an analog mixer that she could hook up to her computer via USB. The only time she had to go into a recording studio now was for initial records and whenever she needed to drag Rebekah in to do vocals, which usually didn't happen until Tuesday or Wednesday because of how booked the rooms were and the vampire's refusal to work in the middle of the night. So much for the creature of the night theory.

"You don't need to know what they do; I do," Addie pointed out as she turned off the high notes on the strip of dials that controlled what the bass drum had recorded. The microphone had picked up hints of the cymbals in a bleed over effect.

"True. You're coming out with us tonight," the blonde declared, pushing Addie's chair as she sat on the other girl's bed.

That was cute. Rebekah still thought she had a chance of convincing Addie to sneak into club with her and a couple of students who were 18 and actually old enough to get in. She pulled the headphones off and spun in her chair to face Rebekah. "Oh, sweetie, I'm not going anywhere," Addie said gently, a condescending smile plastered on. "We have an entire song due in less than 36 hours and while you did your pretty little vocals, I still have to arrange how the guitars, drums, bass, and piano are all going to sit."

"The song sounded good the way you had it _yesterday_. You're just being an anal perfectionist at this point."

Addie frowned at this and flared, "I know this is a blow off thing for you but what this programs is about, generating music, it's all what my future career is about. So, I think being anal and producing the best work I can in order to get the most accurate review and feedback."

"Come on! It's one song. You've been getting feedback on your obsession for weeks. What you haven't done is experience the nightlife of London!" Rebekah countered, pushing again at Addie's rolling chair. "It will be fun."

A strand of navy blue hair curled around Addie's finger as she looked at it pensively. Addie wondered, "Do you recall what happened the last time you told me something would be fun?"

"I meant getting rid of that purple and dying your hair a normal color, like brown or blonde. You're the one who decided on the blue hair," Rebekah protested defensively.

That was true. Katherine had planted the idea of dying her hair blue. But Rebekah was the one who had dragged her to the salon. "Sitting in a hair salon for any reason is not fun."

"This is a night club! It has cute guys, drinks, and dancing! What's not fun about that?"

"I don't drink or dance and have a boyfriend. None of that is appealing to me."

"Girly, girly. girly girls," twittered the voice of a thin, lanky, blond young man as he filtered in through their open door. Addie broke into a broad grin as he dropped himself into her lap. He wrapped an arm around her neck and planted a kiss on her cheek. "Ready for tonight?" he questioned waggling his eyebrows mischievously.

While Addie normally expected a large bubble of person space, Alex had made it clear that he would routinely pop that bubble when he pulled her into a hug when she made for a handshake on their initial meeting. The cheery Londoner had quickly become a large part of Addie's life in England. Alex knew all the best shows on and off West End and always knew someone who could hook him up with three amazing seats. Rebekah loved going to the theatre. She loved any excuse to gussy up. He also provided them with tours of the most beautiful and famous parts of the city. Whenever Addie needed guitar bits recorded, she could always count on Alex to record with her, even if it was at two in the morning. It was a lot faster than generating the sounds on her computer.

"No! Addie's refusing to go. because hot guys, drinking, and dancing don't sound like fun," ratted the vampire.

Alex reached into his pocket and pulled out two plastic cards, passing one to the blonde and waving the other in front of Addie's face. "You mean I got these for nothing?"

Addie snatched the card from him and looked it over. "Seems legit," she observed, before trying to put it back in his hand. "However, I have no reason for a fake ID. Where'd you get them anyways?"

"When you grown up in Kensington to know somebody who knows somebody," Alex answered coolly.

Her ocean blue eyes rolled. "I doubt they pedal fake IDs in the most expensive part of London, pretty boy. Where'd you really get it?" Addie pressed.

"Camden Market. There's this underground tattoo and piercing shop that pushes them," Alex confessed.

"Now _that_ sounds like fun. Let's go get inked up and pierced," Addie perked up.

Alex considered this and proposed, "Sure. I'll take you _if_ you go out with us."

"It's not going to be any fun!"

"Dude, there's drool worthy guys. How is that not fun?"

Tired of explaining herself time and time again Addie groaned, "I have a boyfriend."

Rebekah shook her head. "No, you don't. You have a guy who told you to go be with other guys."

"Ah, yes. That Damon fellow," Alex recalled distastefully. "I can't help but question his motives. Why would any sane man lucky enough to have you encourage you to kiss other guys? Unless he doesn't want to feel guilty about engaging in a bit of snogging himself."

"Damon's not about to go snogging someone else," Addie snapped, her stomach tightening as she questioned her certainty. Jeremy and she had been in near constant contact on Facebook. While he hadn't overtly told her anything his snide comments on the growing closeness between Elena and Damon. Although, just because Jeremy didn't approve of their relationship necessarily mean that something inappropriate was occurring between her sister and boyfriend.

"You've said yourself that he's a bit of a party boy."

As Rebekah was still adjusting to modern terminology Addie had grown into a habit of correcting her. Unconsciously she reminded her, "Playboy. He's a Playboy."

Alex hummed suggestively, "A Playboy with those smoldering baby blues. Even I would be tempted by that."

"That's who he _was_ , not who he is."

Rebekah gave her a look that clearly said she was older and wiser, thus Addie should listen to her. "Once a player, always a player. He might not stray when you're right there, constantly reminding him of how good he has it. You're an ocean away though. And you've talked to him two times in a month. Do you _really_ believe he is just sitting around while he believes you to be with other guys?"

"He doesn't think I'm… Damon wouldn't stray," Addie said firmly. But would he? He definitely wouldn't stray far but if he was tempted by Elena? He had lingering feelings for her. And Elena definitely had feelings for him. Sisterly love wasn't something strong between Addie and her sister; the fact that Addie was with Damon would have little impact on Elena's actions. She wouldn't betray Stefan like that, though. But if she did and Damon was feeling jealous…. "Get up," she insisted, lightly nudging Alex.

Biting at his lip piercing, the boy gave Addie a pained look. "'Fraid I can't do that, pretty girl. Not until you agree to join us tonight."

"You can get up willingly or I will shove you off me."

"Exactly how are you going to do that?" Alex smirked, holding onto her.

"I need to call my boyfriend. Get up."

Rebekah raised her eyebrows in mock surprise and gasped, "Have we succeeded in planting doubt about your boyfriend's fidelity?"

Feeling Addie tense, Alex decided that he and the other girl had pressed her enough. He pressed a quick kiss to her cheek before standing up and holding his hand out to Rebekah, "Come, my lovely. I need your keen sense of fashion to help me pick out what to wear tonight."

The blonde eagerly took his hand and Addie watched the two bound out the door in amusement, Alex closing it behind him. Rebekah had traveled far from thinking the little black dress she had tried on when they first were in London. Her side of the room was plastered with magazine cutouts of the latest trends in fashion. The glow-in-the-dark stars were the only decoration Addie had put up. Grabbing her phone off the desk she flopped onto her bed to look up at them.

It wasn't because she didn't miss Damon that she had only talked to him one other time than when he first called. Talking on the phone already gave her anxiety over long, awkward pauses. Their conversations were bound to be full of them when Addie was so focused on keeping the truth from him that she struggled to find what to say. However, the words of her friends and what appeared to be Jeremy's growing dislike of Damon left her unsettled. She had to talk to him.

As his phone began emitting a melodic ringing from his nightstand Damon groaned. He was not in a mood or state to talk to anyone but reached for the cell anyway. A glance at the caller ID made him groan again. Answering it he flatly said, "I'm sorry but you have reached someone who is not currently operating."

"What's wrong?" Addie asked in concern, hearing the slight slur to his words.

Damon's head turned to look at her side of the bed. Even though the pillow there was covered in black satin, just like every other pillow on the bed, he would always know it was Addie's; it was far too squishy. Changing the sheets meant it didn't smell like her anymore, though. "Ads, Addie, Addison," he moaned whining, "Come home."

She curled her arm around her pillow and breathed in the scent of his cologne. Apart from sounding a little drunk, it seemed like a genuine plea for her to return. As the nagging sensation she had come to know as guilt began to form in the pit Addie repeated, "What's wrong, Damon?"

"You're gone."

Wondering why he had to be so difficult Addie sighed heavily, "I know there is more wrong than that."

"Yes but if I listed every problem I have you would not get your escape from Mystic Falls and the world of crazy that goes with it," muttered Damon.

"I'm 3000 miles away from the drama. I think you can safely share what your problems are without me getting dragged down the rabbit hole and back into Wonderland. Come on, hun. Talk to me," she urged.

A tingle ran through him; that was the second time she had ever called him by anything other than his name. It was possible the term of endearment made him suddenly feel like talking. "Yesterday was your sister's birthday," he said quietly.

Addie already knew that. She waited for him to say more but when it became apparent that he wouldn't she prompted, "Did you give her the card I left for her?"

"Slipped it under the door first thing in the morning. I don't see why you bother; you're pissed at her about John and Jenna and she turns flaming red in anger each time you're mentioned," mused Damon as he slung an arm across his eyes.

She couldn't exactly answer that as she wasn't quite sure why she had left the card other than, "Elena's my sister. I'm as stuck to her as you are to Stefan."

"Doesn't mean you have to be nice to her."

"I left a card where all I did was sign my name. There was no heartfelt well wishing or anything. I'm just interested in keeping civility for Jeremy's sake. I don't want him to feel like he has to choose between us."

Damon chuckled humorlessly. There was no possible way Addie couldn't see how everyone was forced to pick either her side or Elena's. When he had offered to look over her he didn't know he was signing himself up for rants about his girlfriend and how it was all Addie's fault Stefan was missing. And if Damon didn't nod along with Elena she got sour and surly. When he was with Addie it wasn't much better as he had to hear of how it was Elena's fault for everyone being dead. Neither one would listen to reason. "Just by being who you two are, you make everyone choose a side."

"Then answer me this: whose side do you choose?" Addie reflected. Sensing his hesitation she added, "I would prefer the truth, Damon."

"Hers," he mumbled.

The guilt and concern she had been feeling morphed into anxiety as her voice cracked, "Hers?"

Damon nodded in exasperation before remembering she couldn't see him. "Yes," he admitted. "Only while you're away though. It's easier to protect her from by her side than having her shun me for sticking up for you at every turn."

So that was what he was going to call his actions - _being at her side_. Of course she didn't exactly know what he was doing; all she knew was that she was jealous, Elena liked Damon, Damon had remnants of feelings for Elena, and Jeremy's judgement over their growing friendship.

Lightly, Addie pushed for more information, "So, you and Elena haven't tried to kill each other?"

"Nope. I can't promise you I won't kill her before you get back, though."

Addie balled the sheets in her fist, wishing it was Damon's hand she clung to. He sounded awful. "Why are you gonna kill her?"

"She's not gonna give up on Stefan. He's gone, Ads," he whispered, feeling an uncomfortable stinging in his eyes. "He's really gone."

"No," she told him firmly. "He's not gone, Damon. You're not giving up on him."

Damon shook his head and depressedly maintained, "I have to. You don't know what he'll do if I don't stop searching for him. And Elena's not going to stop wanting to follow up every damn lead and I _can't_ let her do it. I want my brother back but the risk, it's too much."

Conflicted between her desire for Damon to be happy and wanting him alive Addie decided to make him answer the probing questions. "Since when do you care about self-preservation? You always do stupid and reckless things for pointless reasons."

"I'm not worried about be." After a long silence he quietly confessed, "Stefan showed up last night."

Addie frowned in confusion. "If Stefan is there why do you say he's gone? Why does Elena need leads to find him?" He didn't answer. "Damon?"

He exhaled loud and slow, feeling the numbing buzz from his bourbon begin to fade. "Stefan didn't come to stay. And he didn't come to wish Elena a 'happy birthday.'"

"What happened?" she insisted. Sometimes getting Damon to talk was like pulling teeth.

"He came to deliver a message. Klaus isn't apparently too fond of us tracking them. Now, normally I wouldn't give a damn about what he wants and I would do whatever it takes to get Stefan but…" he trailed off, running a hand over her face.

"But what?"

It was hard to swallow past the lump in his throat. "They won't kill me if I go after them again. Stefan came to warn me that the next time I tried to follow him he's going to kill you. I can't - I _won't_ risk your life to get Stefan out of a ten year deal."

Unblinking Addie stared up at the glowing plastic stars. She wasn't sure if the threat was real or not. Stefan was undoubtedly working under Klaus' orders. At the airport, though, Klaus had made it very clear that he wanted her alive for some reason. "It's a bluff," Addie decided.

"You don't know that," Damon retorted sharply. "Addie, if it is not a bluff you are as good as dead. I can't let that happen. It's either letting go of Stefan for a little while or losing you forever, It's… Addie, I can't believe you would even think I would even consider risking your life. It's not like I can even protect you from here."

"You need him. He's your brother!"

Rolling to his side Damon clutched her pillow to his chest and fought to stay rational. There was no reason to cause panic in her if he didn't need to but if she wouldn't listen to reason, he would have no choice but to tell her that Stefan had shown up with pictures of walking into her dorm, buying tickets at box office, and several other things. Klaus knew exactly where she was and those pictures proved that he would have no problem reaching her.

Definitively he said, "I've lived the better part of 145 years without being on good terms with my brother. I _know_ I can go ten years without Stefan in my life. A lot of things have changed this past year. Now that I have you in my life I know that I need _you._ I'm in love with you. You are what I need to worry about, not Stefan."

"Damon, you can't pick me over your brother," objected Addie.

"I'm not… I mean I kinda am picking you over Stefan but it's not… It's not exactly the first time I've picked a girl over my brother," Damon uttered quietly, stumbling to find the right words. "Stefan is a big boy; he can handle himself. To a vampire, ten years is nothing. To you that's 2/3s of your life. He's lived many lives over the years. Your's is just getting started. I can't risk you losing your life for a measly ten years of my brother's"

"You're going to be miserable and guilt ridden."

Sighing, Damon looked over at the picture frame on his nightstand; it was him and Addie kissing at the top of the Ferris wheel on their first date. She had been scared of heights so he had used a first kiss to distract her from her fear. It was actually their third or fourth first kiss. Addie kept wanting a redo. He understood why she wanted a redo when he kissed her the night she pulled him from the fire. Damon had thought he had kissed Elena and arrogantly thought something was going to start from that but he had to act on his feelings for her just one time, no matter how wrong it was. Considering he had confessed he wanted her but was going for her sister, she handled it pretty well. It was perhaps the odd satisfaction of Katherine fooling him again that made her laugh of the situation rather than be pissed at him. Then there had been the redo of that first kiss when he successfully convinced her he didn't want Elena. Then she shut down all aspects of their relationship because she wasn't ready and he promised he wouldn't touch her again until she was. That next kiss, the first kiss of their relationship where she knew what she want, was on the Ferris wheel.

"I'm only miserable because you're not here."

Addie shifted her phone to the other ear as she decided how she wanted to respond to that. She couldn't tell him that it was just a few more weeks. "We've discussed this before," Addie replied curtly, wincing at her words. "I can't be responsible for your happiness. It's not fair for you to put that burden on me."

Damon groaned and ran his fingers through his hair. He never did that before he started hanging out with Addie; he picked up her uncomfortable, nervous habit. "I know. I know. It's just that everything is so much easier and better when I know you're right here with a hug and a kiss and all the right words that makes things just a little more bearable. Not to mention that you don't get on my ass about how I act."

"What? Who's said something? What have you done?"

"Why do you assume I did something?" he bit back offendedly.

Addie scoffed before gently answering, "Because I know you, Damon. You act out and do things without thinking when you get upset. The situation with Stefan has you upset."

"Yeah but I can't do anything stupid or irrational because I have to stay in your sister's good graces so I can protect her. Do you have any idea what that leaves me free to do?" he snapped.

She hummed in acknowledgement. Elena wouldn't forgive or tolerate Damon being _Damon_. What was something rebellious and taboo that Elena would deem permissible? Flirt with her. He had a girlfriend so that was something he shouldn't be doing but it was something he could get away with without hurting Addie. He could toy with Elena's emotions. It would explain why Jeremy didn't like their growing friendship. "Doesn't leave you with very much to do," Addie conceded dryly, "which makes me question _what_ are you doing to keep your sanity?"

"Mostly I spend my time thinking about you. That's not exactly helping me keep my sanity. Only for half a second when I first wake up and I know I'm one day closer to picking you up from the airport. Then staying focused on finding Stefan kind of worked. However, I have come to accept that is a hopeless cause. So now, I drink. Whether that helps or hinders my sanity is up for debate," Damon answered dismissively.

"Well," Addie sighed, sensing he wasn't telling the complete truth, "I'm not going to hold that against you."

"And _that_ is why I love you. You accept every fucked up version of me."

"You're not - you have your flaws. We all do. But there is so much more to you than your imperfections. You're… you're just you, Damon. And I happen to like you just the way you are."

Damon laughed bitterly, "You and I might just be the only people who feel that way."

"Who's been stupid enough to give you backlash about how you act?"

"Directly? No one. But everyone in your house is skating on thin ice. It's just a matter of time before one of them says something."

Addie chewed at her lip anxiously. "What will you do then?"

"Kill 'em."

"Damon."

"I'm joking," he reassured her flatly. "Possibly. I mean I can't kill your sister but Ric and Jeremy have those nifty little rings so I _could_ take pleasure in killing them over and over again."

"I wouldn't recommend that as a solution." She wouldn't put it past Damon to snap his best friend or her brother's neck if he was angry enough. His feelings for Elena

"No, it's not the best way to handle the problem. The solution is you coming back home."

"Now, how is that going to change anything?" Addie challenged. She didn't want the responsibility of his behavior. Nor could she tell him she'd be back soon.

Damon scowled, getting up and pouring another measure of bourbon from the decanter on his dresser. He wasn't drunk enough to admit how Addie influenced his behavior so much that she made him act like a better man. She made the whole inconspicuous, blood bag lifestyle a lot less difficult. "In many ways," he muttered bitterly. "You don't question my behavior and for some reason everybody is just better at accepting me as I am. I don't know if it's because they accept your judgement of character or if it's because they know you'll start a fight with them. I shouldn't need my girlfriend to make people accept me as I am."

Addie nodded in agreement, despite him not being able to see. She knew what Damon meant; Bonnie and Jeremy definitely put up with more shit from Damon now that they were dating. She explained, "They put up with your shit because I do and if they don't keep quiet and deal with it they place themselves in a position where I have to pick you or them. They don't want to risk me choosing you."

He hummed in acknowledgement; that made sense. Damon chuckled darkly, "I feel things are better when I get to fight with you."

"Well, yeah. We piss each other off whenever we need to blow off some steam. And it's safe because we know that we're not truly angry at each other and we're not going to break up because we get into an epic fight about having tea or coffee for breakfast. But I'm not there to argue with you so how are you dealing with your anger and frustration? You can't tell me you aren't feeling that with everything going on."

"I drink," he answered simply.

Addie snorted in annoyance. It wasn't the healthiest option but at least he wasn't eating people. "In other words, you repress it and let it fester and it's only a matter of time before you snap and do something stupid."

"Pretty much."

Rolling her eyes she answered sarcastically, "That's gonna turn out well."

"Do you have any better idea than just telling me not to do something stupid?" Damon challenged back curtly.

She really didn't have a solution for him to slowly release his anger. Their bickering really did keep him balanced; it kept her from getting too stressed as well. "All I can say is don't do something that you can't undo or something you might regret."

"I'll try to keep that in mind when I go into a blinding rage."

"Alright," Rebekah called loudly, bursting through the door, "Alex is all set for tonight. Now we have to pick out our outfits."

Sitting up Addie scowled at the vampire, "I already told you I'm not going."

"Go where?" Damon asked from the other end of the phone.

"A nightclub," she growled.

His lips pursed; he wasn't fond of the idea but he did tell her to go have fun and exciting times. Though he wondered, "What nightclub lets in a 15 year-old?"

"None! They expect me to use a fake ID."

Damon burst into genuine laughter since she had left. In between catching his breath he snickered, "There's no way in hell that you're going. You would never use a fake ID."

"Why do you say that?" snapped Addie, not fond of him laughing at her.

"Ads, you'd never do something like that. You're too good and innocent to so blatantly break the law and sneak into a club."

Her eyes narrowed in frustration. She was really getting tired of Damon viewing her as the _good girl_. "i'll talk to you later, Damon. I have to go decide on what to wear."

* * *

"Drinks, drinks, drinks, drinks, drinks!" Alex cheered as he held onto Rebekah's hand and dragged her towards the bar.

Addie grabbed hold of the vampire's free hand so she wouldn't lose her friends in the crowded room. Her heartbeat synced with the racing beat of the loud techno music. The throngs of people made her feel cramped. As she brushed past people Addie felt her muscle constrict uncomfortably. It was as if she was a spring and being compressed as the social pressures increased. It was only a matter of time before she sprung back into place with a massive panic attack. Why had she let her desire to prove Damon wrong drive her into such a stressful situation?

"You ok?" the boy asked in concern as he leaned against the bar, waiting to catch a free bartender.

She shook her head as it became harder to breathe.

Rebekah squeezed her hand reassuringly and smiled brightly at Alex. "She's fine. She just needs a drink to help her relax a little."

Addie mumbled something about how she didn't drink but her words were lost in the sound of the raging music and noisy crowd.

"Or maybe she needs two," suggested Alex as he watched Addie's dark blue eyes dart around the room, her face pale. "I'm thinking a shot of Jack to get things started and an apple martini to keep the nerves at bay. And for you?"

"Anything strong and fruity. We're gonna go grab a seat," Rebekah said over her shoulder, already dragging Addie away from the crowd. She saw a long red couch and gently pushed Addie into it. "Will you stop acting so weird?" she hissed.

Addie ran a hand through her hair anxiously. "I can't help it," she muttered as she stared at the dance floor as the tiles lit up in bright colors. "I don't like this. I don't want to be here."

"Relax! Loosen up! Have some fun! It's like one giant party; how can you not have fun?"

"I avoid parties like the plague," Addie grumbled. "I don't like being around big crowds. Unless it's at a music festival."

Rebekah gave a shrugged. "Well, this is just like that except indoors."

"You've never been to a music festival," she pointed out.

"Well I assume it's the same. There's music and people. How different could the two possibly be?"

"Drinks up!" Alex beamed, appearing from the crowd with a tray full of glasses. He set it on the small table next to the couch. "Shots first," he ordered, passing a small glass of amber liquid to Addie who passed it to Rebekah. Alex held out another glass towards her but she shook her head.

"I promise it will make you loosen up a bit," Rebekah swore, taking the shot from Alex and shoving it into Addie's hand, a little bit sloshing over the side. "It will make everything less overwhelming."

Addie eyed the glass warily, glancing between Alex's cheery smile and Rebekah's expectant, demanding glare. Wasn't there some warning label on her anxiety medication about mixing alcohol with her pills. But she hadn't taken her medication and that was why her heart was going to burst from her chest. Plus, how was she supposed to know what all the fuss was over alcohol if she never tried it? It would definitely be worth it if it made the club more tolerable.

"How am I supposed to drink this?"

Alex laughed. He couldn't believe she'd never taken a shot. "My suggestion is to slam it back as fast as you can. Don't stop to taste it. On three. One, two, three."

Tilting her head back Addie tried to pour the liquid directly down her throat. She coughed, sputtered and gagged as the disgusting alcohol seared a path all the way down through her chest. "God! Why the hell would anyone want to drink this? It's like pure rubbing alcohol or gasoline."

"Give it a minute," Rebekah smirked, setting her glass down. She picked up the martini glass and sniffed at it before passing it to Addie. "That should be better. You can't really taste vodka."

Addie sniffed the green liquid garnished with a slice of green apple. It certainly smelled a lot better than the shot but she wasn't exactly eager to try it. The burn from the alcohol started to turn into a warm glow in her chest. "Ok, we did the alcohol. Now what are we supposed to do?"

Waggling his eyebrows suggestively Alex held out his hand to her, "Now we dance."

"Oh, ha ha," she mocked. "No way in hell is that happening. I do not dance."

"If you're not gonna take him for a spin, I will," Rebekah smirked, snatching Alex's hand and pulling him to the dance floor.

It was interesting watching people writhe to the music against strangers or provocatively with those they knew in such a public space. The degrees to which people were comfortable exposing themselves fascinated Addie. Rules of what was considered proper and acceptable seemed to disappear the moment someone stepped onto the flashing dance floor. Addie watched in fascination.

"Excuse me," said a soft spoken, bespectacled young man, sitting on the other end of the couch, "but you look really familiar. Have we met before?"

"I highly doubt it," Addie replied with a smirk, carefully enunciating in her American accent. "Does that line usually work?"

The man blushed and rubbed at the back of his neck, "I'd say two out of four times. My face is pretty forgettable. It's usually fairly easy to convince a girl we've met before. It almost always fails when the girl is from another country, though."

"I'm surprised it doesn't fail more often," she replied dryly.

"Perhaps if I buy you a drink you'll better understand how it works," he grinned.

Addie rolled her eyes and held up the untouched apple martini. "I think I'm all set."

He sighed and looked around for a moment. "Well, it looks like you might be in need of a dance partner."

Spying Alex at the edge of the dance floor without Rebekah Addie made contact with him, her eyes wide and pleading as she slightly tilted her head to the guy next to her. Looking back at the man she gave him a small smile, "I don't think my boyfriend would like that."

Alex flung his lanky self into the small space between Addie and the other man. "My darling, I apologize about that. I leave you alone for ten minutes and the wolves descend," he sneered no less flamboyant than usual, turning his nose up at the other man.

"The boyfriend?" the man scoffed in disbelief.

Oh, most definitely," Alex smirked, wrapping his arm around Addie's shoulders. He knew the man was classifying him to be the stereotypical gay guy with his skinny jeans, hot pink v-neck, grey cardigan and perfectly styled hair. Over the years he had come to accept being stereotyped and it was usually to his advantage but not this time. The man's judgement was clear in his eyes but Alex couldn't quite tell if he was going to call out his bluff or get the hint and leave Addie alone.

Knowing what the man was thinking as he eyed Alex skeptically made the warm and fuzzy feeling from the shot begin to fade and start to replace with anger. Normally Addie wouldn't call someone out on being idiotic but the alcohol seemed to loosen her tongue. As she opened her mouth to say something Alex cut her off with a passionate kiss. Startled and greatly confused it took a long moment for Addie to respond.

It was nothing like kissing Damon. While Damon's mouth was always a bit cooler than hers but Alex was hot everywhere from his lips to the hand cupping the back of her neck. The only cool part of Alex's kiss was when his silver lip piercing brushed against her. Damon usually tasted of straight bourbon or scotch but there was a fruity taste in an alcoholic combination on Alex's lips. He seemed much more timid in his approach and actions than Damon, who was arrogant and sure.

Alex pulled away with a smirk when he felt the man get up and leave. Taking Addie's apple martini from her he sipped at it nonchalantly, leaning back into the couch.

"What was that?" Addie asked dumbfounded.

"That's how you get rid of pretentious douchebags," he chuckled. Suddenly he stopped and looked at her uncertainly, "Unless that's not what you wanted me to do…"

She nodded her head eagerly. That was what she had wanted but the kiss didn't make any sense. "You're gay."

"What? No! Where would you get that idea?" Alex scoffed, setting the martini down.

Addie ran her hand through her hair as she tried to figure out where she had miscalculated. "When we met you mentioned your ex-boyfriend," she recalled, certain that Alex was gay.

He cocked his head at her curiously. Had she really thought all this time that he was gay? "That doesn't mean I'm exclusively into guys."

"Oh," she whispered, an uncomfortable knot forming in her stomach.

* * *

"So, I'm confused," Jeremy declared, watching his sister through the webcam. "Are you and Damon together or…. I mean, what's going on there?"

Addie swiveled side to side in her desk chair; she always got jittery when she felt guilty. "Damon and I are…," she had no idea how explain where they stood. Curious she demanded, "Why would you question if we were together?"

Jeremy leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. He couldn't very well just blame Damon for something when Addie was doing it too. Judgingly he answered, "Well, you've spent the summer flirting with some guy and then kissed him. And with the way Damon and Elena are cozying up to each other, I'm not certain there isn't something going on there."

"I didn't know he was into me. I thought he was gay! I thought we were goofing around, not actually flirting," she snapped back defensively. "And I had no idea he was going to kiss me."

"Right," he drew out, his voice skeptical. "So that's your excuse for flirting it up with some guy. What's Damon's?"

Addie shrugged; it made her stomach churn hearing her brother talk out loud about her sister and boyfriend being close. Not wanting to believe the truth she questioned, "How do you know it's not just Elena chatting up Damon?"

"Because it takes two to tango. And Damon is _Damon_."

"Well there's your excuse: Damon is _Damon_ ," Addie replied curtly, her lips pursing. She had no doubt about him flirting with Elena while she was gone. His tendency to act out when he wasn't satisfied was just something she'd come to accept about him. Damon could flirt with Elena all he wanted; it was better than him pushing everything down until he snapped and killed someone. As long as he didn't do anything with Elena, Addie didn't really care.

Jeremy shook his head in disapproval. "And you two are just ok with what the other one's doing?"

Addie bit at her bottom lip anxiously. The kiss with Alex and his revelation of feelings and her finding out he wasn't gay was not something she had shared with Damon. She actually hadn't talked to him since the day after Elena's birthday. Not talking to him was miserable but she had to set up the pieces in her plan to keep him from wondering about her when she told him she wouldn't be seeing him until school started.

"We're… there's a mutual understanding that this summer we aren't holding each other to the same standards as we typically would," she answered evasively.

"For the record, I highly disagree with this and _sooo_ don't want to hear about it when this understanding blows up in your face."

"I'll keep that in mind," she scowled before changing to a more neutral topic. "How have you been? What's been going in my dearest brother's world?"

"Bonnie's gone. You're gone. That doesn't exactly leave much to do besides working at the Grill," Jeremy answered, doing his best to sound bored. He considered telling Addie about seeing Vickie and Anna but that would probably be too much for her to handle. Vampires and werewolves were barely tolerable because "if it bleeds you can kill it". That wasn't exactly possible with a ghost. She'd been terrified of ghost since he told her that scary story when she was seven.

Addie smirked at her brother. "Isn't the mundane and monotony of no supernatural drama nice?"

* * *

The firelight flickered over Damon's face reflecting in his bright eyes. His fingers ran through his hair anxiously as he stared at his phone on the end table. Too many emotions passed through him but his thoughts always came back to Addie. Was she safe? How long would it take for Klaus to get to her? Would Stefan even tell Klaus that they had followed them into the mountains? If Klaus didn't know, she was ok. Unless Stefan had been compelled to kill her no matter what.

When Stefan corned Damon in his room the night of Elena's birthday he was so convinced that his brother had completely gone dark side. Stefan wanted to sever all ties to Mystic Falls, to his brother, and he made that loud and clear by threatening to kill the girl he loved. Damon could think of no more effective way to hurt him or make him stop trying to save Stefan.

Unfortunately he hadn't passed along Stefan's threat to Alaric and Elena. Had he done that Elena probably wouldn't have gone marching into the mountains hell bent on retrieving his brother. Actually, as awful as it was, Elena still might have done the same thing regardless of the risk to Addie's life. Elena had listened to him when he told her that Klaus taking Stefan had nothing to do with her sister as well as Addie had listened when he tried to convince her that her family's death wasn't Elena's fault. In short, his arguments were futile and fell on deaf ears of the stubborn sisters. Damon was fairly certain that a large part of Elena's flirting had to do with getting back at her sister. He didn't see the harm in flirting back, even if it did encourage her little crush on him.

Damon looked back at the phone. It was hard not to pick it up and call to see if Addie was alright but it was three in the morning where she was. She probably wasn't even awake to answer. He really should wait until a more reasonable hour. The best thing he could do was focus on where Stefan and Klaus were headed next. Picking up the cell he headed outside.

Three thousands miles away a phone rang. Groaning, Addie swatted at her cell to stop the annoying series of beeps. It fell from the nightstand to the floor still making noise.

"Shut that damn thing up," Rebekah barked, annoyed at the interruption to her sleep.

"It will stop," Addie mumbled, burying her face into the pillow. She blocked out the sound as the scent of ginger, cloves, and sandalwood, enveloped her. Damon made for a much better pillow. She imagined it was his arms that wrapped around her as she pulled the blanket around her.

The phone started to ring again.

"Answer it!" ordered the vampire, pulling her pillow over her head.

Scowling, Addie hung over the edge of the bed and grabbed the glowing device. The screen shined so bright she shut her eyes, missing the caller idea. Aggravated at being woken up she curtly answered, "Who is it and what do you want?"

Rebekah growled, "If I don't want to hear your phone, what makes you think I want to hear your voice? Take it somewhere else."

"Go outside," came a familiar voice from the other end of the phone.

"Hold on," Addie whispered as she slid on her slippers and quietly slipped into the hallway. She leaned against the wall, her eyes closed against the harsh fluorescents. Uncertain if she heard right she murmured tiredly, "Damon?"

"Go outside," he repeated.

She cracked her eyes open just enough to look at the time on her phone. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes she grumbled, "It's three in the morning."

Damon rolled his eyes and insisted, "Go outside." He knew she didn't enjoy being woken up, particularly for pointless reason but he had to hear her voice. He had to know Klaus hadn't gotten to her.

"You're drunk."

He laughed. It was just good to know she was ok and she'd be safe by his side in two days. "I'm sober. Go outside."

"You're insane then," Addie muttered, heading towards the stairwell.

"Quite possibly," he conceded smugly. "Just humor me, love."

The cool night air cut against her face, sending a shiver through her. She looked around, half-expecting to see Damon. Feeling a little disappointed when she didn't she sighed, "Why am I outside."

"Look up," he instructed, a grin crossing his face. "See that big, glowing, white thing?"

Addie groaned, sitting on the porch steps. "You woke me up at three in the morning to have me look at the moon?"

"So you see it, too?" he snickered, too giddy to feel too guilty about waking her. She'd woken him up at crazier times many atimes.

"Yes, Damon. I see the moon. You're drunk."

"I'm not drunk," he maintained. "Do you realize that for the first time since you left we are seeing the same thing?"

She rested her forehead on her knees. Sometimes Damon could really test her patience. "Is this some moon gazing, telephone date or something? It's not cute in the middle of the night."

"I just wanted to know what you're looking at. You're free to go back to bed."

"No, no. I'm already up. I might as well talk to you," Addie grimaced.

He scoffed, "Gee, I miss you too."

"That's not - of course I miss you. I just didn't expect to be talking to you in the middle of the night."

"Sorry about that," Damon frowned. "I just…. After the day that I've had I wanted nothing more than to curl up next to you and discuss it. The closest I could get was calling you. I honestly expected your voicemail."

She snorted humorlessly, "If it wasn't for my roommate demanding I answer my phone, you would have gotten it."

"I'm really feeling the love tonight," he said sarcastically.

Tracking a crack in the cement step Addie frowned. "Don't be so dramatic. I wouldn't answer anyone's call at three in the morning, What happened to?"

"Should I start with the good or the bad?"

"Chronological order would be preferable. Good and bad tend to be subjective."

Order, there always had to be an order and sense to things. Sometimes he wondered why he bothered to ask such questions. "I mean this in the nicest way possible; you're sister is a suicidal idiot."

"That's a pretty big accusation coming from someone who generates one suicidally reckless plan after the other. What did she do?"

"She tracked Stefan and Klaus to a pack of werewolves in the middle of nowhere. Ric was stupid enough to encourage the rescue mission by tagging along. About the only smart decision either one of them made was Ric telling me what the hell was going on. Of course he didn't do that until it was already too late for me to convince them to turn back around," grimaced Damon.

Addie looked up to the sky and wondered, "Did you tell them about Stefan's threat against me?"

"No," he admitted shamefully. "I should have. It was stupid and arrogant of me not to. I just didn't think they would go after them without me. I'm so sorry."

"It doesn't matter. Elena still would have gone after Stefan," she decided, shaking her head in frustration.

"You don't know that."

Not wanting to think about her sister, Addie curtly demanded, "What happened in the mountains?"

His eyes dropped from the sky to his shoes as he ran a hand anxiously through his hair. Damn Addison for making him pick up that annoying quirk. To prevent doing it again he shoved his hands in his pockets and balanced the phone between his shoulder and ear. Hesitantly he confessed, "We ran into one of Klaus' failed attempts at a hybrid. He was rabid and mad and turning way before the moon was full. We had him chained up but he broke free. I got Elena and Ric out of there. The guy was about to bite me when Stefan showed up and ripped his heart out.

"I totally checked out on Stefan. With him off the rails and threatening you I thought he was gone, like his humanity was lost. I gave up on him when I shouldn't have. I should have found a way to protect you and save him at the same time. I have to do that now."

As a cool wind whipped past her Addie wrapped her arms around herself. Addie hadn't talked to Damon since the day after Elena's birthday. He had told her of Stefan's threat if Damon continued to follow and search for him. Addie hadn't expected Damon to actually stop, to give up on Stefan. That threat over her life versus his brother's freedom seemed like an easy choice, no matter what he said. Still disbelieving his choice she wondered, "What made you change your mind?"

"I changed my mind because even in his darkest place my brother still can't let me die. So I figure I owe him the same in return. Stefan is an insufferable martyr that needs his ass kicked but he can be saved. I just don't exactly know how screwed up he is.

"That's part of why I had to call you. I had to know you were ok. Klaus didn't see us but I wasn't sure if Stefan would report back on seeing us. God, Addie. I was told you would be killed if I didn't stop going after them. I have no idea if that threat comes from Klaus or is of Stefan's own doing. I just know that I went to where they were and that put a target on your back. Whether my brother would come after you or if it would be Klaus or one of his minions I didn't know. I still don't know. Ads, you need to be hyper vigilant; they could still strike."

"I already told you that was a bluff," Addie muttered, tugging at her blue hair.

"Let's just say that you are in real and imminent danger. I don't like gambling with the idea of this being a bluff," he growled out roughly as he headed back into the study, annoyed that she wouldn't take her safety serious enough.

"Yeah, uh-huh, ok. What do you expect me to do about it?" she challenged, not seeing the point of the conversation.

Damon sighed as he tapped at his laptop. "Why don't you just fly home today? There's a couple of choices in flights. I mean, starting at nine there are nonstop flights throughout the day. Some are into Philadelphia or New York but the few extra -"

"Shut up," Addie interrupted sharply.

He looked at his phone in confusion, wondering if he had heard correctly or if he had somehow switched to a call with someone else. Damon scoffed, "Excuse me?"

She took in a shaky breath, clutching at her pajama pants. It was now or never. For two months she struggled to come up with a way to tell him she wouldn't see or speak to him until school started. There had been only one theory she could conjure that wouldn't raise suspicion. "I'm not coming back early."

"It's one day, Addie! You can't just come back one day early for my peace of mind? For your own best interest?"

"No, Damon! I don't - I don't need you protecting me and watching over me all the time," clipped Addie, cringing at the gobsmacked look that was undoubtedly on Damon's face. She had to keep going before she lost her nerve. "I've done fine without your smothering protection all summer. Despite what you may think I'm not some fragile little girl that needs her big bad boyfriend to look out for her."

"I never-"

Her eyes stung as she continued talking over Damon; she had to get it all out before the guilt got to her. "What I'm trying to say is that I don't need you. I'm not… You were right that this was a time for me to branch out, try new things, and grow up. That's what I've been doing all summer. That's why I avoid your calls."

"Addie, I -"

"I'm not coming home today or tomorrow. I - I kissed Alex and I - I think there is something there that I owe it to myself to explore that. It's like you said; it's something different from you," Addie choked out, brushing away her tear.

Damon leaned back into the sofa, soaking in what she was saying. She didn't need him protecting her. _No._ She didn't want him protecting her. How could she say she didn't need him? He needed her; Addie was the only thing keeping him grounded. "When are you coming home? And isn't Alex gay? What are you going to do? Your program is over. You can't just…. What about _us,_ Ads?"

More tears fell at the nickname. It was a struggle to keep her voice from quivering. "I thought he was gay. His jeans were tighter than mine so I kind of jumped to a stereotypical conclusion," Addie tried to joke, her voice too forced. Damon didn't say anything. "We're gonna travel Europe; Paris, Rome, Madrid, and all those other beautiful places. As for us, well, this is what you pushed me to do."

"I didn't mean for you to go gallivanting all over Europe with some guy. Everything was supposed to go back to normal July 16th. You weren't suppose to tell me days before that you decided to run off with some other guy!" Damon snapped, tugging at his hair in frustration.

"This isn't about another guy as much as it is about me getting to do things I'd never get a chance to do otherwise," Addie whispered. She knew she needed Damon angry and upset enough that he would let her go without question but she didn't like having to make him jealous.

"If that's what it's about then _I_ will take you to Europe. It'll be romantic and we can do whatever you want. Just… come back home, please," he pleaded, knowing he sounded desperate and pathetic. He didn't care. He'd been distracting himself by playing with Elena and focusing on Stefan but two months was long enough. Missing her was starting to hurt too much.

Addie ran her hand through her hair as she fought to keep up her nerves. Her voice was icy as she challenged, "And exactly when would that ever happen? After you save Stefan? When we're going to be dodging and trying to out run Klaus because he wants to kill us for taking his pet? While we try and hide the fact that my sister isn't dead? Undoubtedly we will be searching for a way to kill an unkillable hybrid beast, too."

"Ok, so right now isn't the best timing but we'll get there!"

She shook her head, trying not to breakdown. "I'm already here. I can go _now_. Damon, this is something I have to do for myself. It's not just about seeing Europe or a crush on a guy. The truth is that I need some space from you, from us."

"Two months and 3,000 miles hasn't been enough space?" he scowled, pouring a drink. There was no possible way that Addie was serious. If he had known encouraging her to go to London would have lead to her touring Europe with a guy she was interested in he never would have pushed her to go.

"No," Addie whispered, "it hasn't been enough. I've spent this whole summer thinking about you and fighting the urge to call you every single day and writing sappy love songs about you! I need a complete break from _us_. I need some time to discover me and to think about our relationship and if it's _right_."

Damon scowled, "Right? You're questioning if we're right together? Addison, our relationship couldn't be closer to wrong if we tried. I thought we reached a point where you would stop analyzing and questioning every aspect of us."

Addie chewed at her lip in thought. They had reached that point; she knew all the ways she and Damon were wrong and she was ok with it. Damon was what she wanted. "It's a lot easier to just accept our relationship when every time I start to wonder about it I become mesmerized by your looks, your style, your charm and your unflinching ability to listen to Taylor Swift. I need to think about this without the distraction of wanting to kiss you or waiting until the next time I talk to you."

He couldn't argue with her on that. When he was first questioning if he wanted to start a relationship with her, if he was in love with her, if it was acceptable for him to be with her, the answer was always a yes and he couldn't figure out why he even had doubts whenever she was around. Addie deserved a chance to consider their relationship without his influence. He caved, "How long? How long do you need this... separation? How much longer do I have to be away from you?"

"I don't know," she mumbled. "Give me until school starts."

"You're going to be traveling the continent with _Alex_ that whole time?" Damon grimaced.

Her stomach knotted as she lied, "Yes."

"How am I going to know you're ok?"

"Same system; I'll be checking in with Jeremy." She'd need to convince Klaus to let her do that.

Damon ran a finger around the rim of his tumbler, slightly surprised he hadn't thrown it yet. Sourly he asked, "So this is goodbye until school starts?"

The tears flowed freely down her face, the wet tracks chilling her cheeks in the cool breeze. "Yes," she whispered. "I'm so sorry, Damon."

"It's fine," he lied, weighing the glass in his hand. "Just remember, whatever you decide, right or wrong, I will still love you."

Addie ended the call just before a sob wrecked through her, Everything was so wrong. She was suppose to be home bound in less than 48 hours. Chicago was too far from Mystic Falls.

* * *

 **A/N: Klaus and the windy city up next! Thank you all for your comments, follows, and favorites.**


	4. Chapter 3

As if reading braille Addie ran her finger over her name stamped onto the black debit card. It only took her a quick Google search to find out that the card was associated with a checking account that required a minimum balance of one million dollars. Damon was crazy. She hadn't used the card but considered it as she stared at the luggage cart rental machine. If she used the card Damon would undoubtedly be curious when the account showed a charge in Chicago. Wherever Klaus dragged her, she could make a purchase with it, leaving an electronic trail of her movements. It wouldn't take Damon long to connect that her trail matched his leads on Stefan, meaning they were both trapped with Klaus. The hybrid had threatened Damon's life if she told him about their arrangement. Being the reckless idiot he was, Damon would concoct some stupid plan to rescue his brother. The thought of him doing so made Addie so anxious that she had purposefully avoided learning anything about how he may have tracked Stefan over the summer. If he knew she was with Klaus, would that make him try harder to save Stefan and her or would it just make him act more irrational and lead him to his death?

The card from Damon was returned to her wallet in exchange for her own. Addie wasn't certain that Damon wouldn't do something stupid when he connected her and Klaus. For now it was best that he continued to believe she was in Europe. She could always change her mind and use the card later.

After renting the luggage cart Addie met up with Rebekah at the baggage carousel. Somehow the Original vampire had returned with three more suitcases than she'd arrived with. Addie had to buy a second suitcase mostly because she couldn't repack her bag in the extremely efficient way Damon had, not because she had bought a new wardrobe or that many souvenirs. She warily eyed the four bags Rebekah had already reclaimed.

"Should I have gotten two carts?"

"Don't worry about it," Rebekah scowled as she pointed at a bright pink suitcase and a man in a suit removed it from the revolving belt. "Nik sent a lackey to pick us up. Can you believe he couldn't even bother to pick us up himself?"

Addie rolled her eyes as she heaved one of her bags from the carousel. "Marginally surprised," she huffed, dropping the heavy suitcase onto the cart. "Though I'm fairly certain he has you instructed to kill me if I tried to get on a plane to Virginia. I _do_ think he would enjoy killing me himself but he also seems like the kind of guy who prefers to immediately retaliate. It would probably be pretty inconvenient if he had to swing by Mystic Falls just to kill me. Oh, and my brother and Damon, since I believe our arrangement involves their lives if I breach contract."

"How do you know that?" inquired Rebekah, motioning for the man to load the cart.

The cart could only manage five suitcases so Addie dragged hers along as the man started to push the trolley towards the exit. It bothered her to confess, "Klaus isn't the first sociopathic, narcissistic, serial killing vampire I've encountered. Well, he's a hybrid now but that's just a matter of technicality; you get my point. Predicting Klaus is like predicting the opposite of what Damon would do because they're both…"

"Evil? Bad? Manipulative?" the vampire suggested.

Addie pursed her lips unhappily. "I don't want to label Damon but, well, sorta. He doesn't win the 'Upstanding Citizen' award. Damon would let someone get back home, have a happy reunion, and then rip that away. He'd enjoy the idea of someone having a false sense of security _or_ being paranoid of him. Damon is so egocentric that he would like the idea of torturing someone with the simple idea of him. Damon's… _negative_ actions are with a purpose and reason. Most of the time. When he loses his temper it's a bit of a free for all."

"And how does this help you understand my brother?"

"Klaus… I don't see a lot of reason in what he does. He just seems to do whatever thought passes through his mind. He kept Katherine around to gather information but once he was done with that, he let her go. Everyone expected him to kill her. He has this 500 year vendetta against her and he lets her go. He abducted me the day of the sacrifice because to use me as an insurance policy. He fed me his blood and threatened to kill me if someone screwed with his plan. Damon did and, while Klaus had everyone believing I was going to be the vampire in the ritual, he didn't hurt me. If that was never his intention, why did he feed me his blood? Why abduct me? He just seemed to randomly change his mind on using me. Then there's this whole scholarship thing and now meeting up with him. He's given no real reason. He taunted us on the day of the ritual. With no purpose. Then he killed my aunt. Why? There were other choices.

"Damon is obsessive and _predictable._ Maybe not to everyone else but Katherine and I can predict almost every move. It's his emotions that make him so transparent. Klaus is obsessive and I've never seen him do anything that seems emotionally based. Damon, when he was searching for Katherine, it looked like he did things that weren't emotionally based. Everything was a matter of efficiency. I predict Klaus like that; he does what is efficient. Why waste the time picking us up when he can compel someone to? He knows you're going to keep me in check," Addie snarled, helping the man load the suitcases into the black SUV.

Rebekah nodded her head towards the door, waiting for the servant to open it. She peered at Addie suspiciously, "If Damon's so awful, why are you dating him?"

"Have you not scrolled through my pictures enough times to figure that out?" smirked Addie. What answer would prove most beneficial in the long run? What knowledge should she feed Rebekah to keep Damon safe in the long run.

"You don't seem like the type to date based on looks, no matter how delicious Damon is."

"Damon is a horrible monster but that part of him just…," Addie ran her hand through her hair as she thought. She needed a rational explanation without exposing Damon's weakness. She scoffed and shook her head, bitterly saying, "Damon's a great actor. He fooled me into thinking he had a heart but Katherine took and destroyed that a long time ago. Turns out I was just something to keep him entertained."

"What? When did this happen?" Rebekah gaped, her head whipping around to look at Addie in the backseat. "You two were disgustingly cute in those picture."

"Yeah. That was before I found out he's been -" Addie quickly cut herself off. The best lies were always closest to the truth. But Elena was suppose to be dead so she couldn't say that Damon had been with her. She shook her head again and looked out the window, trying to play it off.

Seeing the hurt look on the younger girl's face made Rebekah scowl. Gently she asked, "What did he do?"

"He was Damon. You were right; once a player, always a player."

"I'll kill him."

Addie laughed dryly, "As much as he may deserve that, my feelings were and are genuine, even if his weren't. I'd rather him not be dead."

Rebekah frowned and amended, "Then I'll kill the girls he was with, assuming he hasn't already done so."

"Damon hasn't killed anyone. Not in a long time," she retorted curtly, her protective instincts for the vampire kicking in. "Well, I mean he did kill those two witches working with your brother but they were kinda out to kill my sister. On the whole, though, for a self-proclaimed serial killer, he's been on model behavior."

"That's not a vampire's nature. Our instinct is to kill. If Damon is going bad again, why not go all the way?" the blonde asked suspiciously.

"Because he's Damon and everything he does, he does with an agenda. Our town has a secret council specifically to hunt vampires. Damon's managed to infiltrate it. That's kind of how he was getting his leads on where to find Stefan. If bodies drained of blood started showing up, well, there are people who would know it was him and wouldn't hesitate to kill him. And if they didn't kill him, they would certainly stop helping in his hunt for Stefan," Addie explained. It _was_ true.

"Do you think I'd like Damon?"

She bit back a laugh, smirking, "If you are immune to his charm and sex appeal, and I can't think of a single person who has been when he's tried to go after someone, then no, you probably won't like him. Had you asked me three days ago I would have said yes either way because I thought he was a nauseating hopeless romantic like you but I was wrong."

* * *

Addie groaned loudly as the door handle clicked out of place; she could sense the darkness and negative energy radiating from Klaus before he evened entered the hotel room. Rebekah looked at her quizzically.

"Have I mentioned how I much I despise your brother?"

"Come now! I thought we agreed to a peace treaty," Klaus taunted, arrogantly strolling into the room.

A sense of relief overcame Addie when she saw Stefan come in just behind the hybrid; it was nice to know someone was on her side in this situation. It seemed Klaus had not told Stefan that she would be joining them based on the way his face paled.

"No, you said the scholarship was a peace _offering_. I begrudgingly agreed to a deal with you. I can assure you there was no 'ceasefire' clause," she replied with fake sweetness.

Klaus faltered for a beat as he thought of a comeback. Addie couldn't resist the eye roll; Damon would have had one before she'd finished speaking. Eventually he darkly replied, "Perhaps. However, I can assure you that this experience will be a lot more pleasant for everyone if you play nice."

Addie sucked in air through her teeth and faked a wince. "Unfortunately, recess was the only class I ever failed. Turns out I'm not very good at playing nice."

"Well, you know what you stand to lose if you don't play nice. I'll leave it up to you if you want to pay that price," he replied dismissively. Addie considered remarking how her _playing nice_ wasn't part of the deal to keep Jeremy and Damon safe but knew it would just be antagonizing. There would be plenty of opportunities for that, no need to start off on the wrong foot. Klaus' eyes narrowed in on his sister as he continued, "You took away her phone and got her off vervain, yes?"

When it turned out that Caroline couldn't drink her blood without her throat swelling, Addie had conceded with Damon on his theory of him being immune to whatever made her blood poisonous to vampires. Vampires couldn't attack her mind either, thanks to the gruesome _training_ she and Damon had undertaken. Their goal of Addie not needing to rely on vervain for safety had been met but they agreed it was best to keep it secret. All summer Addie had slipped vervain into her morning tea, trying to be a discrete so it didn't look like she was suspicious of Rebekah but still wanting her roommate to know that she wasn't there to be a midnight snack. Addie had noticed the change of viscosity in the vervain about a week ago, alerting her that it was something else but as she did not need the vervain, she decided to keep quiet and see what Rebekah was playing at. She was quite shocked when the other girl never tried to compel her. In feigned surprise and outrage she growled, "You did _what_?"

"Yes and yes," the Original answered shortly, pulling out Addie's cellphone from her pursue. Knowing she needed to discuss the whole communicating with home situation with Klaus, Addie hadn't even questioned when Rebekah demanded her phone. "I did everything you asked. Now give Stefan back his memories."

The hybrid waved two fingers, indicating he wanted her to be quiet. He grinned wickedly, "All in due time, little sister. You know how Stefan's _appetite_ is. We have to make sure he doesn't rip right through our guest's throat."

"I believe hostage is a more accurate term," Addie interjected brightly, carefully watching Stefan as he uncomfortably shoved his hands into his pockets.

"It's all in how you view it, Addison," gleamed Klaus. He crooked a finger and beckoned her to approach.

As she moved towards him through gritted teeth Addie hissed, "Let's get one thing straight: it's Addie, not Addison."

Klaus' lips twitched in amusement as he pulled a knife from his pocket and grabbed hold of her arm by the wrist. "Your birth name is Addison. I will call you by your given name."

Her lips pursed as she considered this, focusing on anything but the cool blade on her forearm. Boldly she declared, "If you wish to go by birth names then we shall, Niklaus."

"Ok," he agreed, not taking her bait. She hissed loudly as he swiftly dragged the knife over her skin. As he expected, her blood smelled unnaturally sugary. Blood scent was directly correlated with how healthy a being was. A typical human had a scent similar to a candy apple. A vampire was akin to artificial strawberry. Addie's blood was like sweet watermelon, sweetest and most appealing of them all with a slightly forbidding note of a sour crisp. Klaus smirked in satisfaction when he saw Stefan transfixed on the crimson liquid, dark veins spreading around his hungry eyes. "Drink," he commanded the younger vampire, moving to hold out the girl's arm to him.

Stefan shook his head, not understanding Klaus' motive. "I'll kill her."

"Something tells me you won't. Drink."

"It'll be ok. I trust you," Addie urged quietly when Stefan gave her an apologetic look.

Roughly the vampire snatched her hand and his lips descended over the cut on her forearm. She winced as she felt Stefan literally suck the blood out of her. After a few moments Stefan flung her arm away, coughing and sputtering, trying to get as much of her blood out of his mouth as possible. His eyes went wide as he began to grab at his throat; it was swelling shut. Every where her blood touched felt like it was hit with a concentrated dose of vervain. It took several minutes for him to calm down.

Ice flowed through her veins as Addie went into the ensuite kitchen and grabbed a paper towel to blot at her cut. She waited for someone else to acknowledge the incident, her mind reeling at how Klaus could have possibly known.

Laughing, the hybrid clapped Stefan on the back and taunted, "When the Ripper shows up, you might want to remember that you'll be dead before you even finish her."

"What - why did that happen?" muttered Stefan. Addie's stomach flipped at the sight of him ripping into a blood bag.

"If I told you that would destroy the mystery that is Addison Gilbert," Klaus grinned.

When the hybrid bit his wrist and held it out towards her Addie backed up into the counter, applying more pressure to the cut with the napkin. Taking Damon's blood was one thing but Klaus' was completely different. The idea of being a neck snap away from transitioning to a vampire wasn't comforting. "Thanks but I think I'll take the slow and steady healing process. It's how the tortoise beats the hare so there must be something right about healing like a human."

"That's gonna scar."

"Obviously," Addie sneered. She gave him a look of excitement and quipped, "Do you know how much of a bad-ass I'll look like when I show up with a battle scar from my time with you?"

Her lips pressed into a thin line when Klaus stepped so close that she had to tilt her head up to look at him. "That's just a papercut," he smirked superiorly. Suggestively he added, "I can give you a real battle scar, though."

She shook her head, refusing to give in to the awful desire to put as much space between them as possible. "Nah, I'm more into the clean cut versus rugged and scarred look. But since you're in such a giving mood I'd really like it if you could give me an explanation as to how you knew Stefan can't drink my blood."

"It's only our first night together. If I told you now, what would you try and weasel out of me over the rest of the summer? But as you said, I'm in a generous mood so I'll give you a hint. Your doppleganger sister fascinated me by the genes she received from her mother. They overpowered her Gilbert DNA. In you, I'm fascinated by the Gilbert DNA manifesting itself in the most divine way."

Addie forced her face to remain impassive; Klaus wanted her to ask more questions. She hopped to sit on the counter, placing a little more space between them and keeping him from peering down into her face. At just over five feet, height became a component of a power struggle; at least that's how it was with Damon. And Klaus had a good two inches on Damon. Average height was a Gilbert trait her siblings were blessed with. Siblings. Jeremy. "You know," she sighed heavily, resting her hands on her knees, "one Gilbert trait is being needy and overprotective. Am I allowed to discuss our arrangement?" She gave a pointed look at Stefan.

"Sure."

"So, I'm not supposed to talk to Damon during our little adventures. That's fine; I took care of him. We didn't exactly leave a clear understanding of what kind of contact I can expect to have with my brother. To put it simply, Jeremy and Damon are gonna flip and do something stupid if I don't check in with Jer every couple days. After the curse breaking and my sister and aunt, I'm sure you can appreciate their over zealous concern with me not directly under their noses. Story is I'm exploring Europe. If I don't keep that up it's not going to take long for Damon to put together the truth. When he does that he's gonna come find me. Now, that would kinda defeat the whole purpose of me going along with this because the second he shows up you're gonna rip his heart out."

"Does Damon enjoy your rambling?" Klaus interrupted boredly.

"Yes, yes he does. Don't you?" Addie asked sweetly, flashing him a flirtatious smile and fluttering her lashes.

"No. Get to the point of what you want."

Inhaling deeply Addie pretended to carefully weigh her words, "Well, it's not so much what I want; it's more about what's in everyone's best interest. It would be most convenient for all of us if you allow me to have my phone."

Klaus shook his head, laughing slightly, "You're joking. What part of, in your terms, _hostage_ do you not understand?"

Addie gave a slight nod, indicating he had a valid point. "So, you're going to lead Damon to his death and not hold up your end of the bargain of that small detail about keeping him alive? I'll be the first to admit that Damon can be a bit of a party crasher. Him showing up would just put a damper on all our fun and debauchery. He claims he can be bad but something tells me you can be badder."

"Flattery gets you nowhere. How do I know you don't just want your phone to tip someone off?"

She scoffed and looked at him with disgust. "Do I look like an idiot? I'm your prisoner because I _don't_ want you to kill the few people I have left that I care about. Do you really think I'm going to send up a signal flare and announce I'm with you on a blimp?"

"I will keep hold of your phone. I'll monitor every incoming and outgoing message. Try anything and everyone in your contact list will be slaughtered."

* * *

"Remind me again why I convinced Klaus to let us borrow Tony and the car," Rebekah demand boredly, snatching the giant cup of crushed ice Addie kept chewing. If she didn't stop it would be all gone by the time she went to use it for its intended purposes.

"Because neither one of us can drive. At least not legally. I'm not about to do something stupid and illegal. If I got caught driving, they could extend how long I have to wait to get my license. Right now, we are talking less than two months. Freedom is so close I can almost _taste_ it!" exclaimed Addie, turning to look out window at the buildings flashing by. All she had to do was give Tony, the same man who had picked them up from the airport, an address and he drove to it, no questions asked. Her stomach twisted guiltily at the way the man was compelled.

The vampire rolled her slate blue eyes. Addie had proven to be more of a conundrum than Klaus had warned her about; Rebekah wasn't sure if she was being dense on purpose or not. Sometimes Addie found it humorous to state the obvious and other times she got frustrated when the obvious was pointed out because her mind was already 100 miles ahead. "I meant 'where are we going and why?'' she snapped before remembering. "You don't even have a car."

"True," Addie drew out, "but I'll get one as soon as I can test drive one." And she would; the monthly "allowance" from her parent's will plus the new "allowance" from John's was more than enough for the cost of a car, gas, and insurance. "It won't be my dream car but it will get me from point A to wherever the hell I end up." That's why Damon said he would never trust her with his car; she would get in with the intention of going to the store and back but would suddenly decide to just keep driving. Addie grinned broadly as she pulled out the plastic card with her photo on it. She waved it in the other girl's face and singsonged, "And we're doing what we're doing because I still have this."

Rebekah snatched the fake ID and reviewed it. "It says you're 18; that's not old enough to buy alcohol in the US."

"Yeah, it doesn't make me old enough to gamble, either. And you still owe me a bottle of Jack Daniel's," Addie remembered. She'd found that she actually liked the taste of the whiskey when it blended with Coke. "We're going to a tattoo parlor because the only thing this," she flicked the card, "let's me do in America that is still fun is get inked and pierced without parental consent."

"You have a vampire boyfriend and a new vampire best friend. You do realize that you could just get or do whatever you wanted with a little compulsion," sighed Rebekah as she passed the fake ID back.

"Where's the fun in that?" Addie asked blankly. Then she laughed, remembering what Damon had said the first she had gone to confront him about him and Stefan staying away from Elena. "Besides, my vampire ex-boyfriend would cut my fake ID in two just for the power rush. But he doesn't card when supplying alcohol."

"I keep forgetting you guys broke up."

Addie shrugged. "Well, now it's not cheating when he inevitably bangs m- Mu Sigma Upsilons. The sorority is big at the college next to town. Mujeres siempre unidas and all that," covered Addie, cursing herself for almost mentioning Elena as being alive for the hundredth time. She wasn't entirely convinced life wouldn't be easier if Klaus' plan had gone as intended.

Rebekah gave the other girl an apologetic smile for bringing up Damon. She tried to shift Addie's focus back to what they were doing by recollecting,"You literally just said you weren't about to do something stupid and illegal. You realize using a fake ID is illegal, right?"

"Yes. If you get caught."

"No, no. It's always illegal."

"Ok, well, getting caught using it would be stupid and I already said I'm not doing something stupid _and_ illegal."

"Pretty sure doing anything that requires us going to a tattoo parlour gets classified as stupid," judged Rebekah with a click of her tongue.

Smirking, Addie wished she could waggle her eyebrows like Damon but settled for raising them up and down a few times. "Getting a _tattoo_ would be stupid. I haven't thought out what I want, the meaning behind it, where I want it, how I want it, considered how it look in 20 and 40 years, and everything else you should do before getting a tattoo. I'll agree in filing 'impulsive tattoo' as stupid. But a piercing, which can be taken out, removed, and in all other words essentially undone does not count as stupid because you can always change your mind."

A humming noise of disagreement came from the vampire. "You already have a nose stud and your bellybutton and ears pierced."

"Katherine decided that it would make Damon more interested in me when she wanted me to manipulate him," Addie dismissed. "This time, I'm deciding where the needle gets jabbed. Actually, I decided to add in the belly button piercing last time…. My point is: I have a fake ID that needs to be utilized to its full advantage without me doing anything stupid. Not all of us can compel our way through life. Plus, if I'm deceiving someone, I feel more moral about using a fake ID than controlling someone's mind. It's not _my_ fault is they can't tell that it's fake. Plus, isn't it more fun to live with the thrill of possibly _not_ getting your way?"

"No. Life is far better when you get whatever you want without worrying."

Stupid, elitist vampires. They were always so entitled. Did none of them remember what it was like to be human and unable to demand your way through life?

"You do realize this fake ID is from the UK, yes?" Addie just gave Rebekah a wink. The vampire sighed in annoyance. "At least tell me you aren't getting some stupid and unreasonable piercing."

"Depends on how you classify a tongue piercing," Addie replied in an English accent. Her eyes narrowed as she focused on trying to sound more like a London native than from Northern England. "I can see it as beneficial to some aspects of life or a pain in the ass every time I accidentally bite it."

"Too bad Damon won't reap the benefits," snickered the blonde.

Addie tilted her head curiously. She'd never even considered what Damon would think. Oh, well; he'd just have to deal with it or get over it. She already made up her mind. A wicked grin crossed her face as she placed the ID back in her wallet and saw the black card from Damon. It would either annoy the hell out of him for paying something he hated. If he liked it, well, that was a reason to make him pay for it. Annoy him or make him pay for his own toys, it seemed like a win-win to her. And there would be a Chicago charge on the account. Damon was going to come to Stefan's aid. It was best that he be prepared and know that she was with Klaus and Stefan instead of having an unpredictable reaction when Klaus used her and her safety as a threat against him.

* * *

Addie stared at the brooding vampire as she leaned against the door to his room in the hotel suite. He hadn't answered when she knocked but she knew he was in there. Normally she avoided Stefan; it wasn't that she disliked him, she just wasn't exactly fond of the supernatural element he'd brought to Elena's life. Then there was the space she put between them so Damon would never question if she, like her sister and Katherine, preferred Stefan. It almost felt like a betrayal to Damon when she entered Stefan's room searching for reassurance, comfort, and familiarity.

"Not answering is not an invitation to enter," Stefan remarked, setting aside the book he was reading.

She crossed her arms and scowled, "Isn't Damon supposed to be the snarky one?"

"You haven't met me on human blood."

"Well, there was that little period around the Miss…," she trailed off at the daggering look he gave her. Addie raised her hands defensively, "Fair enough. I have no idea who you are."

He laughed humorlessly as he ran his hands over his face. "You know, I have no idea who I am anymore. I can't expect you to."

After a two weeks of deep-dish pizzas, five different zoos and aquariums, many nights at a pub and far too much time in a hotel Klaus had restored a small portion of Stefan's memories from his time with the Originals in the 1920s. Addie didn't know much but she gathered Stefan wasn't happy to learn that he had at least known of Klaus and dated Rebekah.

"How far gone are you from the Stefan I knew?" His lips pursed as he considered how to answer. Addie saw the struggle within him and reminded him, "Rebekah still has Klaus stuck watching her model every article of clothing at Ann Taylor. This is just between us."

"I'm just trying to keep Klaus from being suspicious about your sister. He can't make his hybrids because Elena's alive. While you've been on field trips I've been watching a witch; she's why we're in Chicago. Klaus wants me to observe with whom she interacts with and if she's on the up-and-up. Soon he's going to go to her and ask why the hybrids aren't working." Stefan admitted darkly.

Addie sat on the edge of the bed as she became lightheaded and the blood drained from her face. Everything they had done to save Elena and it was all about to unravel. Terrified, she whispered, "He's going to find out."

"I don't know," he said slowly. "Magic is complicated. The witch won't just look into a crystal ball and see Elena. Remember how Damon needed Emily's grimoire to undo the spell that was put on the tomb?"

"I vaguely seem to recall his obsession, yes."

Stefan gave her a half smile before continuing to explain his theory, "Damon knew as much about Emily's spell as Klaus knows about the spell placed on him. He knows it's purpose, what it does. Klaus is going to need _someone_ or _something_ to tell him the actual spell so he can undo it."

"Yeah, the witch you've been spying on!" Addie snapped, running her hand through her hair.

Stefan shook his head. "No, no. Damon tried to figure out from that witch in Georgia but she said he needed _Emily's_ spellbook. He needed _Emily's_ crystal to undo the spell in his original plan. I think Klaus is going to need something from the one who cursed him, the Original witch."

"Or this witch could just, oh, I don't know, chat up the spirit witches, find the Original witch and get the answer from her! The doppelganger isn't dead!" she countered sharply.

"The spirits don't work like that. Witches are anti-vampire, remember? They didn't want to tell me how to save Damon's life. I'm pretty sure they're gonna be anti-hybrid. The Original witch was. He's going to need either a thousand year old talisman or grimoire to figure out the spell. How likely is it that something has survived that long?"

Addie scoffed and exclaimed, "Klaus has!"

he ignored her and continued, "Even then all he's going to know is what he already knows: how to break the curse. As far as he knows, he did everything he was supposed to in order to break the curse. He'll just have to accept that part of the curse is that he can't make more hybrids."

Addie's eyes narrowed as she studied Stefan. The desire to ask if he was so naive to as to believe that Klaus would just accept that he couldn't had to be suppressed. Did he not understand the obsessive nature of guys like Klaus? Hadn't he learned from watching his brother focus on Katherine for 145 years? She didn't have any ideas of how to save Elena's so she'd just hope Stefan was right and tell Damon to take Elena to Guam when it turned out he was wrong and Klaus would start hunting her sister. "Alrighty then," she over enunciated. "Sounds good to me."

"Elena's going to be fine," Stefan reassured her, gently squeezing her shoulder. "Damon won't let anything happen to her."

"Yeah, he'll take care of her," she agreed. Her stomach knotted as she thought of Damon and Elena spending so much time together, flirting with each other. Damon had dubbed the period they wouldn't be talking a _separation_. Did a separation mean he would be doing more than flirting? With anyone? Leaving Damon thinking that she was experimenting with another guy had essentially pushed him to be with someone else. It was fair; she knew what she risked when she hurt him like that. Just as long as it wasn't Elena. If it was Elena it _meant_ something to Damon. He admitted that he would always have lingering feelings for her. Addie scoffed; she never thought she'd wish her boyfriend was sleeping with someone else. Well, she'd prefer if he had no interest in anyone but he _was_ Damon and she just hoped his interest didn't return to Elena. But, no. That would never happen, anyway. Elena was too crazy about Stefan. Though her diary reeked of her unrequited pining for Damon.

Stefan cleared his throat and sharply asked, "Speaking of Damon, how could you do this to him?"

"I didn't exactly have a choice," Addie snarled. "I didn't know my _scholarship_ from Nik Mikaelson was from Niklaus. I was sitting in the airport and he showed up. It boiled down to I could either go to the program and join him after or skip the program and go with him right then. If I picked none of the above Klaus would kill my brother and yours. I'm not doing this _to_ him. I'm doing it to save his life. Not mention saving your girlfriend's life because I doubt he'd go to Mystic Falls and not run into Elena."

"I'm not dating Elena anymore. That's over."

She broke into laughter, dropping her face into her hands. "That's _wonderful_. That's just… just great."

"I don't get the joke," frowned Stefan.

Addie flopped backwards on the bed as Stefan moved to sit next to her rather than against the headboard. She rubbed at her stinging eyes. "Your ex-girlfriend, the one your brother loved - well, I suppose that's both of 'em but you know which I mean in this instance - is being guarded by said brother, who I… care about very deeply. And your ex-girlfriend may or may not have feelings for your brother, who has instilled into my head that he will always care about your ex-girlfriend."

"There are so many simpler ways you could have said you think something will happen between Damon and Elena."

Her words replayed in her head and she conceded, "I suppose it could have been that short and brief but I have a very bad habit of not getting directly to the point and rambling on. I'm fairly certain it drives Damon insane. On the other hand, he doesn't really seem to mind as he tunes most of my pointless points out."

"How do you not confuse the hell out of him?" he muttered, following her thoughts.

"I believe I do. Actually, that's one of the few factors I have going for me; he's so confused that half the time he doesn't know what's going on. And we can't fight about something if we're both confused or either one of us is unaware of everything," Addie pointed out as she reflected on the many conversations she'd had with Damon. There were somethings, like her galavanting around Europe with Alex or Damon's feelings for Elena, that they should have _really_ fought about, as opposed to fighting over whether or not Damon was ever allowed to use the waffle maker again after producing raw, _healthy_ waffles.

All they ever did was fight. Was she saying that what they did wasn't actually fighting? Or did they not fight over important things because either one or both of them wouldn't know how to cope with their emotions? Stefan could kinda see that; they both only knew how to feel too much or not at all. All he knew for sure was that their relationship was a working dysfunction. He reminded her, "Damon loves you. Even if Elena shows an interest in him he wouldn't do anything about it. He can be a womanizer but you've turned him into a one girl kind of guy."

Addie awkwardly chuckled as she scratched at an eyebrow uncomfortably. "Yeah, um, I'm not so sure about that."

Nudging her foot with his Stefan grinned at her knowingly. "Trust me. My brother, he's crazy about you, Addie. I mean, I know there was a period Damon was interested in Elena but that's ancient history. You make him into a better man. He would do anything to make you happy."

"Mhm," she hummed, unconvinced.

"I'm surprised he hasn't shown up to save you. Even if he believes you're traveling around Europe," he remarked brightly, trying to understand her frown.

"I don't see Damon rushing to save a girl that broke up with him," spat Addie. "It's far more likely that he's enjoying some quality time with your not-girlfriend."

There was no way he heard that correctly. Addie and Damon fought and drove each other insane but they were oddly perfect for each other. "I'm calling your bluff. You're being paranoid."

Rubbing at her eyes she muttered, "You're surprised he hasn't shown up. I haven't talked to him in over two weeks and yet he's not freaking out. How do you think I've managed that? Damon and I are separated."

* * *

"This is _so_ not sketchy," Addie muttered as she followed Stefan and Klaus through a heavy, metal door. The was a short, dark corridor with walls of stone that led to thick, red curtains that concealed an entryway.

Klaus held apart the curtains for her to enter as he reminisced with a smirk, "It opened up during the Prohibition. Everything was off limits, which made everything so much fun. It was an illegal club; obviously, it's sketchy. It makes for the perfect place for my favorite witch. If anyone can help us with our hybrid problem, it's her."

" _We_ do not have a hybrid problem; _you_ have a hybrid problem," she snapped, glaring daggers at him. Passing him with with a slight brush of her shoulder in the cramped corridor Addie entered into a large pub. It was dim, quiet, and empty. Despite the current, dilapidated look of old wooden chairs and tables, it wasn't hard to imagine the venue as once a grand spectacular with its large clearing in the middle for dancing, a stage for live entertainment, and beautiful crystal chandeliers.

Stefan gave Klaus a smirk over his shoulder and nodded. "I agree with Addie; _you_ have a problem."

"Wait!" exclaimed Addie, abruptly stopping. Slowly she turned to Klaus with an astonished look and mocked, "You mean _our_ as if we're all a team because we are so unwillingly shackled to you. In that case, _we_ do have a hybrid problem."

The Original hybrid emitted a low rumble from deep in his chest and snarled, "You are not amusing. And both of you chose to be _shackled_ to me."

"It's not really choosing if it's between you and Damon dying."

"So you wouldn't have come along to save just your brother?"

"I would have but Stefan and I both literally picked you over Damon dying or being killed. It's the golden thread that weaves our fates together, bonds my life with his, brings together two completely -"

With a sneer Klaus cut her off, "You know, I think I'm being far too nice to Damon in giving him several weeks of not having to hear you prattle on and on."

"Damon finds it endearing," Addie said smugly and stuck her tongue out. "You've only burdened yourself with my perfectly sensible nonsense."

"You got to be kidding me," came a female voice from across the room. A thin, willowy woman Addie guessed to be in her 50s entered from a shady corner, shaking her head in disbelief.

Klaus smirked and joked, "So a hybrid walks into a bar, says to the bartender-"

"Stop," the woman insisted firmly as she walked towards them. "You may be invincible, but that doesn't make you funny." Her eyes crinkled at the corner as she smiled slightly at Stefan. "I remember you."

Stefan glanced to Klaus curiously. Addie watched in fascination as their eyes connected. Klaus pupils dilated and then receded. Stefan turned back to the woman and his eyebrows furrowed as he remembered, "Yeah. You're Gloria. Shouldn't you be…"

A trembling hand ran through Addie's hair as she realized Klaus had compelled back some more of Stefan's memory with just a look. It was troubling to know Klaus didn't need to use verbal commands.

"Old and dead?" the witch teased. "Now if I die, who's going to run this place, huh?"

Addie shook her head as she muttered to herself, "That's not possible. Witches are immortal."

"Gloria's a very powerful witch," Klaus loudly whispered. She jumped in surprise when she felt the breath of his words against her ear.

Addie scowled and hit his stomach with the back of her hand muttering, "Ass."

"I can slow the aging down some. Herbs and spells. But don't worry, it'll catch up to me one day," the witch informed her, the cheeky smile never faltering.

Klaus cleared his throat and looked pointedly at the other vampire. "Stefan, why don't you go and fix us up a little something from behind the bar?"

"Yeah, sure thing," Stefan nodded, heading in that direction.

Addie put a hand in front of her mouth as if she was to convey a secret but asked too loudly, "Should I go wait in the car now?"

He scowled at her, making Gloria's grin spread. "Now, I know Stefan but I don't know this pretty little spitfire."

"This is Addison Gilbert, my doppelganger's little sister," Klaus supplied, moving towards a table.

Glaring, she took the seat next to him and corrected, "Cousin, _Niklaus_. We're only siblings by law." Addie had been feeling decidedly anti-Elena lately. She was fairly sure it had nothing to do with the fact that, according to Jeremy, her and Damon spent every waking moment together; that would've been petty of her.

"Right," he replied curtly. He motioned for Gloria to take the free seat. "Won't you-"

"Don't bother with the flattery," Gloria chastised, relaxing back into the chair, scrutinizing Klaus. Addie's respect for her increased as she so brashly handled the Original. "I know why you're here. A hybrid out to make more hybrids? That kind of news travels fast."

"So what am I doing wrong? I broke the curse." Klaus growled.

Addie's heart began to race.

The witch raised one shoulder casually. "Obviously you did something wrong. Look, every spell has a loophole, but a curse that old…. We'd have to contact the witch who created it."

So far Stefan's plan was holding up.

"Well, that would be the Original witch. She's very dead," snarled the hybrid.

Gloria nodded understandingly. "I know. And for me to contact her, I'll need help. Bring me Rebekah."

Rebekah? The Rebekah who hadn't been dragged along because she insisted on having a spa day? Surely not. There was suppose to be some big, epic hunt to find whatever Gloria needed to talk to the Original witch!

"Rebekah," Klaus scoffed, shaking his head. "Rebekah is a bit pre-occupied."

"She has what I need. Bring her to me."

"What's this?" Stefan asked loudly, holding up a photo at the bar.

While Addie couldn't make it out, Klaus obviously knew what it was as he replied smugly, "Well, I told you, Stefan. Chicago's a magical place."

"But this… this is us with our arms over each other shoulders. Like we were friends."

"Yes," Klaus said shortly as he stood up. "Now let's go. I need to get my sister."

Addie scoffed and laughed, "You're batshit crazy if you think I'm going with you to drag Rebekah out of a _spa_."

"I don't have time for games," he hissed.

She looked up at him wide eyed and innocent. She maintained, "I'm not going. I've spent a whole summer with the girl. Her temper is worse than yours! Excuse me for saying this but I'd rather not have my neck snapped just because you want to drag her from a spa to a witch. Unlike you or Stefan, I won't wake up feeling sore in a couple of hours."

"Fine. Stay here!" he snapped.

"Oh, yes," Gloria muttered. "I'm all about being a babysitter."

Addie made to scowl but Klaus was already gone. Instead she exhaled sharply and turned to the witch. "You said you still run this place. Looks like I have nothing but time. What can I do?"

* * *

Based on a scientific article and experiment that suggested people use blinks as a sort of mental resting point, to briefly shut off visual stimuli and to refocus attention Addie blinked three times before staring back at the grains in the wood. This time she placed her finger on the groove that flowed out from the roughly circular, dark piece of wood, the knot. Determining where the vein of the knot ended proved more difficult when the lines started to blur together after three Coke and whiskeys. She pushed the tumbler across the bar; no more until she figured out where the line ended. With nearly five hours to pass and nothing to fill the time, Addie had succumbed to tracing patterns in the bar top. Gloria suggested that she find something more entertaining about two hours earlier so Addie order a Coke with Jack Daniel's. She was certain Gloria meant something more along the lines of socializing with the patrons that had flooded in when she opened the pub but had given her the alcohol anyways. Boredom didn't suddenly absolve her anxiety in talking to strangers. But each empty glass the witch kept replacing made her attempts at understanding the wood that much harder and amusing.

Gloria humphed as she swiped two glasses off the bar. "Don't see the Salvatore boys for nearly 90 years and then you get both those in one day? Obviously there's gonna be trouble," she muttered to Addie.

"What?" she gawked after a second of processing. Frantically she asked, "What do you mean both?"

The witch nodded her head towards the entrance but Addie didn't dare to look. "Stefan's brother."

Addie let out a quiet stream of colorful words as she bent her head down and tried to arrange her dark blue hair to shield her face as best she could. She debated on trying to make an inconspicuous move towards the bathroom. Gloria must have been able to tell something was wrong because she moved further down the bar before she acknowledged Damon.

"Well, look what the wind blew in," the witch grinned appreciatively. "Last I heard, you hated this place."

The nausea from the alcohol hit her as she tilted her head up just enough to see Damon arrogantly swagger his last few steps to the bar. God, he had to have twenty black shirts and to hell if she knew the difference between them except the one RRL. No other shirt fit his shoulders so perfectly or bared the perfect amount of chest when he left those top buttons open or made him look so lean and muscular at the same time. Damn. He looked even more perfect than when she'd left him. He'd been down right attractive but _now_ he was, well, there were no other words besides smoldering hot and seriously sexy. Those words weren't even in her dictionary! Addie forced herself to look back down before he caught her. She shook her head lightly and pushed the tumbler even further away. If Damon was starting to look better, which wasn't physically possible, it was a clear sign that she'd had more than enough to drink.

"Gloria. Damn! If I knew you were going to age like this, I would have stuck around."

Addie bit at her lip to suppress the smirk that tugged at her lips. That was his flirting voice. Damon wanted something.

"I always did like you better. But I see your brother is still running in the wrong crowd," Gloria said disapprovingly as she pulled out a clean glass.

"You've seen him?" he asked, his voice slightly higher. Addie moved to biting the insides of her cheeks. That innocence and surprise was _so_ faked. She sat on the side of the bar and at least he leaned up against it with his back to her so she could steal another little peek.

Gloria nodded as she filled the glass with scotch. "With Klaus. Bad combo."

Addie brought a hand up to cover her mouth as he too naively asked, "You know where they went?"

"They'll be back here later tonight," she informed as she tucked the bottle away. "They're out running a little errand for me," she finished sliding the drink to him.

Before she could pull her hand back behind the bar Damon's landed lightly on top of hers. "Gloria." Addie had to look away from that pressed smirk. He really wanted something. "Don't be a tease," he scolded gently. "What kind of errand?"

The witch removed her hand from under his and shook her head. "I don't think so. You may be cute, but you're still a vampire."

Addie could see the frustration on his face as he drummed his fingers against the bar. He stopped scowling just long enough to toss back the drink. His fingers stilled and his face relaxed slightly. Coolly Damon echoed, "They'll be back here later tonight?" She nodded. "Good," he said far too brightly before his voice immediately darkened again, "that gives me time to deal with my girlfriend."

She bent her head lower, again messing with her hair to hide her face. He meant Elena; he had to mean Elena. That was not Damon invading her personal space. Those were not his steel-toed boots she was looking down at. It couldn't be his stare she felt boring into her.

Silently Damon stood next to her for a few more moments. It was as much a chance to give her to respond as it was time for him to reign in his anger enough to be on a measurable scale. When he felt like he could talk to her without screaming he quietly demanded, "How long are we gonna play this game, Addison?" She could hear the threatening, dangerous undercurrent in his words. "'Til _Klaus_ gets back?"

Her hand shook as she pushed it through her hair, raising her head as she did so. Warily she turned slightly to face him and recoiled. There was confusion and pain in those bright eyes but the anger nearly occluded everything else. Addie had seen Damon mad but she'd never witnessed him so livid that his face started to color. His emotions were volatile at best but as every second passed, she could read in his face, his tense stance that whatever he was suppressing was becoming more and more explosive. He made to grab her hand but unconsciously she pulled away.

His eyes narrowed as he quietly seethed, "You think _I'm_ gonna hurt you?"

Bonnie's throat ripped out. Jeremy's snapped neck. Alaric's pierced lung. John's broken neck. _Damon_ wouldn't hurt her but his temper was almost an entirely different person.

"Alright," he scoffed when it was obvious she wasn't going to answer. Inhaling sharply he lowered his face until it was even with hers and in a sickeningly sweet voice declared, "You're going to follow me outside or I'm gonna start ripping off heads." The wheels spinning in her head were practically visible. He dropped the tone and growled, "You really don't want to find out if I'm bluffing." Damon backed away slightly when he saw her continuing to debate whether or not to believe him. "You know it's not smart to underestimate a man who has nothing to lose. I lost my brother. I lost you to _Klaus_. Really, the question is why haven't I already ripped everyone's throat out?" He turned away and headed towards the door. She'd gone pale when he brought up that bastard hybrid. She'd follow. And it was obvious she wasn't thinking straight otherwise she would have made some smartass retort about how Gloria would have him rolling in pain before he could touch anybody.

Her whole body trembling Addie followed Damon outside. When he turned down a dark, narrow alley at the side of the building she hesitated.

No longer hearing her footsteps behind him, Damon was back at the alley entrance in three long strides. He snatched her wrist, being extremely mindful not to snap it and tugged her into the secluded side street. "God, have you gone stupid? You think Klaus isn't going to kill you standing out in the open like that?"

Addie pressed herself against the wall as Damon began to pace back and forth in front of her. He was like a caged animal as the anger rolled off him. She want to fight with him, to defend herself but he was right. Klaus was going to kill both of them. Mostly she just wanted him to stop pacing; it was making her dizzy and she already felt queasy.

"Will you stop flinching every time I turn?" he snapped. "I'm not going to hurt you. I just…." He growled, pushed a hand through his hair and grimaced. That was a particularly annoying habit he had picked up from her. When he went to pass her again he stopped and critically eyed her. It just didn't make sense. No, he wasn't great but _Klaus_ was… more not great. God, she had him so confused he couldn't even string together a sensical sentence. He couldn't do it. He couldn't make two plus two equal four; it just kept equaling 'hybrid'.

Was she actually shaking? Did she really think he could ever harm her? Forcing his breathing to slow and deepen Damon encroached on her personal space. The palms of his hands rested against the brick wall on either side of her shoulder, careful not to touch her, despite the twitching in his fingers. Closing his eyes and exhaling slowly he bowed his forehead to rest against hers.

Hardly daring to breathe Addie stared at Damon's open face. Every emotion whipped across his features, anger, pain, doubt, confusion. She tried to match her breathing to his but he was inhaling and holding it far longer than any normal human could.

"I don't - I can't - I just-" he stammered, loss for words. He could feel her head slightly trembling under his. Annoyed he uttered harshly, "Stop. Stop shaking. Ads, I'm not going to hurt you."

With just that simple nickname Addie felt something in her start to relax. He was more her Damon than he was the caged animal, now.

He shook his head as he tried again to understand but failed. How she could be with Klaus was beyond him. Just letting her go, letting Klaus have her wasn't an option but he had to. She already made her pick in some competition he didn't even know he was competing in. It wasn't fair. No. He wouldn't just accept her screwing him over like that, not without…. His lips brushed tentatively over hers. When she inhaled sharply he reminded, "You still owe me a goodbye kiss. Told me to save it for when you got home."

The last of her fear slipped away as his lips pressed gently at hers again. This was her Damon; he'd beaten his temper for her. She meant her kiss as a brush, a butterfly touch of lips on lips, but he leaned down toward her, and his movement changed the angle swiftly; she pressed up against him harder than she'd meant to, her lips sliding to center against his. She felt him breathe out in surprise against her mouth. Their kisses deepened slowly, softly, the intensity growing between them as it always did, like a blaze that started with a single match and flared into was home, Damon's arms surrounding her, the cool summer night wind of Chicago in their clothes, her fingers digging into the back of his neck, the place where his hair curled softly against the skin. His palms were still flat against the stone behind her, but he moved his body against hers, gently pressing her up against the wall; she could hear the harsh undertone of his breathing. He wouldn't touch her with his hands and she knew it was because he didn't want her to feel trapped. He realized he had scared her and now he was worried she'd stay scared and skittish. She could still touch him, though, and she let her hands go freely, over the swell of his arms, down to his chest, tracing the ridges of muscle, pressing outward to grip his sides until the RRL button up was rucking up under her fingers. Her fingertips touched bare skin, and then she was sliding her hands up under his shirt. Addie hadn't touched him like this in so long, she had nearly forgotten how soft his skin was, how the muscles in his back jumped under her touch. She had taken control of the kiss. Now she felt him tense as he took it back.

Taking advantage of her slight gasp Damon slipped his tongue into her mouth. He hesitated when he hit something hard but felt Addie smirking. He probed at the object curiously and groaned, pressing harder into her. She'd gotten a fucking tongue ring. The taste of Jack and Coke still lingered. He growled softly. Whiskey and a tongue ring? The girl was trying to kill him. No, not him. _Klaus_. Reluctantly he broke the kiss and placed a small amount of space between them as he rested his forehead back on hers. He watched as her chest brushed against him as she breathed heavily. Damon laughed softly, "Should I be more surprised by the fact that you fot your tongue pierced or you now drink whiskey?"

"I only drink Jack Daniel's, which is technically a straight bourbon," she retorted, her lips tugging into a saucy smile.

"Oh, love, that's cute," he cooed teasingly, "but it's technically Tennessee whiskey, not bourbon."

She scoffed at his belittling tone, "The definition of Tennessee whiskey is a straight bourbon made in Tennessee. Jack is bourbon."

With pursed lips Damon shook his head and disagreed, "Ads, the bottle says whiskey; it doesn't say bourbon."

"Because it says Tennessee in front of whiskey which is basically the same as slapping on a label that says 'straight bourbon.'"

"But it's not the same since it doesn't actually say 'straight bourbon.' It's a whiskey, love."

Her lips pinched before relaxing into a smug smirk as she condescendingly patted his cheek. "All bourbon is whiskey, hun."

He closed his eyes at the way the little term of endearment made his heart race. That was the third time she called him that, the third time she called him anything besides Damon. Part him just wanted to cave in and tell her she was right and she could classify Jack Daniel's however the hell she wanted. The rational part of him knew it didn't matter because she was with Klaus. Rationality settled on wondering, "When did you come so versed in alcohol? When did you even start drinking?"

"Uh, early to mid June? Took several trials and errors to find that I only like Jack and Coke."

"Interesting choice," he muttered. "How did this fail to come up in, I don't know, all our conversations?"

"Because if our conversations simply consisted what we have and have not tried to drink it would prove to be a very one sided conversation and only you like hearing you talk that much," she answered simply.

"I meant that you, Little Miss Law-Abiding All-Around Good Girl, started drinking."

Addie faked a dramatic wince and inhaled sharply, "Yeah…. I'm afraid we're gonna have to toss that label. Fairly certain using a fake ID to get into clubs, buy alcohol, and get piercings is illegal. And I'm pretty sure almost none of that is _good_ and some things I did this summer were definitely bad."

"That's how you got your tongue pierced?"

"No. I was an idiot and let Joe the Plumber jab a hepatitis soaked need through my tongue."

"Such a smartass. You know, I'm thinking of ways to keep pushing of the inevitable conversation but my efforts seem futile and I'm kinda on a deadline; gotta reign in an off the rails brother."

"No!" she snipped. "You have to let Stefan go. He's doing fine. He's handling everything ok. The blood...well, Chicago has enough people that he's not going to cause a stir with killing mostly the unknown homeless. And he does fine with Klaus. You have to let him go for now. You have to leave Chicago _now._ "

"Not happening. I came here to retrieve a brother and I'm not leaving without one," Damon stated matter-of-factly.

Addie started to run a hand through her hair before realizing Damon still had her up against the wall. She sighed in frustration, "You can't do this, Damon! Not here. Not now. Klaus see's you and he's going to kill you." He didn't say anything as he continued to stare at her. Addie groaned, "God, what are you… do I even want to know what your plan is?"

"You mean distract Klaus while your sister convinces Stefan to come home?" Damon shook his head, "Probably not."

Addie thought. And thought. And thought. And considered how she would feel in a week. Deciding she'd be guilt free, Addie slapped Damon across his face. From the slack-jawed, gobstruck look she got, she assumed she earned his attention. "How the _hell_ could you do that? You brought my sister here?! Klaus is minutes away from finding out she is alive! And another suicide mission? Really?! Do you have any idea what Stefan and I are putting up with to keep you alive? You selfish, miserable bastard."

Damon moved his jaw around until it felt like it was back in the right place. Addie was smaller than Elena but, like he always expected, she hit a hell of a lot harder. He hadn't been anticipating that reaction. Not with her nestled up with Klaus. But he'd rather skip the lecture. "What do you have to do with keeping me alive?"

"You're stupid, right? I mean the only plausible reason to me being stuck with Klaus is to protect the people I care about."

"I must be stupid because I never got the memo that you were stuck with Klaus. My send off was you wanting separation while you toured Europe with your no longer gay bestest buddy." He scoffed and shook his head, "I mean, I think I've been pretty generous and nice considering everything going on here-"

"Excuse me," Addie interrupted, placing a hand in the center of Damon's chest and pushing him back a few steps. "What do you _think_ is going on here?" she snarled.

"That your gay bestest buddy is still gay and still in London and you're touring the states with _Klaus_ and we're separated."

She had to swallow back a gag. Alcohol and stupid Damon's didn't mix. "I'm tempted to let you carry out your suicide mission for even thinking I'd ever be interested in Klaus."

Damon held up his hands defensively. "Hey, you, and I quote, 'give the bad guy more credit than he's due.' Wouldn't be the first time you fell for such a psychotic, serial killing, narcissistic vampire. Would be your first time for a hybrid, though."

Addie thought about it and decided she would likely feel guilty later if she slapped him again. She pinched the bridge of her nose as she tried to think through her argument but she felt the alcohol was impairing her usual effectiveness. "You're an idiot," she muttered, rubbing at her head. "And you are literally making my head ache."

Damon snorted as he crossed his arms smugly. "That was a, uh, pretty frisky kiss from you considering we're out in public, you know. And I'm pretty sure I'm not what's making your head hurt. And, gosh, Ads, I hate to kick you when you're down but it just didn't seem to click to you that Gloria is a very powerful witch and would've had me on my ass before I could touch anyone inside. Today, I gotta say, you're arguments are really sub par. Well, your defense of Jack Daniel's as a bourbon was on point for you but I think that might just be because he's become such a close friend. I'm guessing the reason you never told me about Jack and all his buddies is because of just how close and… _unhealthy_ your friendship is."

She laughed bitterly, running her hand over her face, "Wow. That's rich. _You_ lecturing me about alcohol. My defense was good because I'm smart. My arguments are sub par because I don't know how to argue on a level that a child can process, which is obviously what I need to do if you're thinking I'm into Klaus. It all just didn't _click_ with Gloria because I was waiting for you to snap my neck. And you are what is making my head hurt; you almost always are. You're also reading far too much into the first kiss we've shared in three months. On that basis alone it's surprising I didn't strip you here and now. Although I'm really questioning why I ever even missed you at this point. Did I miss anything?"

"Yeah. You missed the part where I'm your borderline alcoholic ex-boyfriend who can tell when you're lying sober because you're shit at it and you're an even worse liar when you've had a little too much to drink."

"Well, if that's true then you know I'm not lying when I say I hate Klaus, have absolutely no feelings for him and you're an idiot," Addie tossed back lightly, looking up at the dark sky.

Damon cocked his head in intrigue. She did hate Klaus. She did think he was an idiot, though that varied from moment to moment. And she did have feelings for Klaus. Her lie didn't tell him what they were unfortunately, good or bad. He sighed and gently rubbed her upper arm, squeezing her shoulder. "Come on. Let's go. Let's get your sister and get the hell outta dodge before he comes looking for her."

"Mm-mmm," declined Addie, slumping to sit with her back against the wall.

"Yes, Ads."

She shook her head, not looking at him.

"Why not?"

Flatly she answered, "He'll come after everyone I care about. You can't put Mystic Falls in a to-go box and bail out on the check."

Why had he missed her outlandish metaphors? All he understood was that he couldn't protect all of Mystic Falls then the rest got lost in translation.

"You and Elena need to run," Addie noted, her voice sounding automatic and emotionless. "You need to hide her. Klaus will be searching for her soon."

Sighing heavily Damon dropped to squat in front of her. "You know you're insane if you think I'm leaving Chicago without you."

"You'll leave."

"No."

She nodded slowly, her eyes on him but not seeing him. "Yeah. Because if you don't it means Stefan loses any hope he has. It means I lose my sister. It means you lose Elena. You won't lose Elena."

"Screw Elena. I'll lose her before I lose you," he hissed sharply.

"Why didn't you come sooner?"

"What?"

"I've been using your card all over Chicago for almost the past month. You've known I've been here that long. Why not come until now?"

Damon dropped his face into his hands and groaned. She was less than a day's drive for that long with _Klaus._ "Love, that card, that money is all yours to spend however you want. It's an account just for you; it's in your name. The statements that say where you use it are sent to your email. All I can do is transfer money into the account. I can't even look at the balance to tell if you're using it or not. I swear I would have come the second I'd known you were here. The only reason I even knew Stefan was here is because Katherine called and told me this morning. She never said a word about you. I… Whatever you tell Jeremy is what I've been thinking. I thought you were in Greece this week. Oh, and I'm royally pissed off about the lying but I'm thinking that's a discussion we can have once we put a few hundred miles between us and Klaus."

"I'm not leaving," Addie whispered, finally meeting his eyes. Even in the dark she could see that bright piercing blue.

"Yes," he insisted at her shaking her, "you are. I'll have Bonnie put a bubble shield around the town."

"She's not that strong anymore. The witch spirits cut her off. Besides, she's not in town."

"Then I'll find someone! This isn't safe for you. We need to leave."

Addie chewed at her lip. There wasn't going to be a way for her to rationally get Damon to leave without her. Why did everything always come back to her having to hurt him? Staring him down she curtly said, "I'm not leaving because I _want_ to stay."

Had she slapped him again? He wondered, blinking in confusion. It certainly felt like it. "You don't know what you want. Klaus has you all brainwashed and screwed up like he does Stefan."

No. Klaus didn't control either of them like that. He just used the ones they loved against them.

"Klaus knew that Stefan would choke on my blood. He compelled Stefan to drink my blood knowing that he wouldn't be able to kill me." In the dark light she could see color rising to Damon's cheeks. She tried to make him stand another way. "Klaus knows what I am, Damon! Or he at least knows why my blood is so screwed up. He has answers that I need."

"We can find those answers, Ads. Klaus is not the solution."

"You said you can tell when I'm lying," she scowled standing back up. "Am I lying when I say I don't want to leave with you? Am I lying when I say I want to stay with Klaus and get answers? No. Get my sister and get out of town."

It took him a second to register her walking away but when he did, it took less than a heartbeat for him to catch her by the wrist. She hadn't been lying but he'd be damned if he wasn't getting her out of there either way. "You go back inside and I go back to my original mission," he threatened.

"You mean your suicide plan so my sister can talk to Stefan?" Addie pretended to mull over his threat before shrugging carelessly. "Oh, well. It's not going to work and Elena's just going to wind up getting killed by Klaus again. Successfully, this time. Has your life been rewarding enough for you to die in vain?" Certain Damon wouldn't leave Elena to fend for herself, she yanked her wrist from him and went inside.

* * *

 **A/N: This episode has been broken into two. We can't miss the epic showdown of Damon vs Klaus! Thank you all who favorite, follow, and comment.**


	5. Chapter 4

In a corner of Gloria's club, a place where shadows overcast the small booth Addie sat and observed the crowd. The acidic Coca-Cola burned her throat as she swallowed a large gulp. She set the glass back down and stared at the beads of condensation that had formed. In it she traced a D but more condensation quickly made the letter disappear. She liked it in her dark little booth, as far away from the throngs of people as much as possible. Nobody bothered her or even seemed to realize she existed. Klaus had noticed her, though. He just gave her a nod before he and Stefan went to the bar. There was no shock that Rebekah wasn't with them. Addie had known it was a futile attempt to drag her from the spa. It might have been amusing to watch the stubborn brother and sister fight but Addie hadn't wanted to get caught in the crossfire when one of them started to throw a tantrum.

At the bar Stefan and Klaus seemed to be in an intense discussion. Stefan's face was blank, then confused, and slowly a look of revelation overcame him. Another memory had been returned to him. It was sick and twisted the way Klaus was returning Stefan's memories bit by bit. Having gone through something similar after having Rebekah and Alex prompt memories from her after a heavy night of drinking and slowly piecing the night together Addie would classify Klaus' actions as cruel and unusual punishment.

Damon had been slightly right about her drinking too much. It was just that the blonde Original had insisted Addie have fun because that was why Klaus had sent her and fun to Rebekah meant a lot of parties and a lot of clubs. Those things didn't mix with Addie's social anxiety. She didn't like to take her anxiety medication because it made her feel like she wasn't in complete control of herself but she had tried using it when they went out once. It hadn't done a thing and her anxiety was through the roof. The alcohol, though, it took the edge off. Enough of it even made talking to strangers bearable. It put her in a calm, happy state where everything crappy and stressful just didn't matter. The Jack and Coke that afternoon had kept her from worrying about what would happen when Rebekah showed up and Gloria used her to contact the Original witch. But that had mostly flushed from her system and she was terrified again.

Klaus and Stefan clinked shot glass and tossed back the liquor. They talked for a minute and then another look of realization came across Stefan's face before he looked extremely confused. There was a short exchange of conversation before Stefan got up and moved towards the exit. Addie's eyes narrowed suspiciously as Klaus sauntered towards her. She took another sip of Coke. Exactly why she had ordered Coca-cola she wasn't sure as she didn't even like it. Somehow the acidic burn just wasn't worth the discomfort if it wasn't mixed with concentrated alcohol that irritated the mucosa lining of the throat causing a pain response in the nerves.

She looked up at the ceiling as if the answer to why she needed to know the logical reasoning behind everything that happened was there. Normal people drank not giving a damn about why it burned; Addie had needed to look up why it did before she tried alcohol the second time. Living her life by rules of logic and reason had become more and more difficult since the Salvatore brothers had entered her life. Bonnie's witch abilities bothered her, too. There had to be some chemistry or physics or biology that explained how all the supernatural stuff worked. Rationality needed to exist. Chaos, things that couldn't be explained, made her uncomfortable. It made for a world where anything was possible and that was scary.

Addie suppressed a groan as the dark sensation she felt when Klaus was near arose in her. She understood that the desire to run away was linked with a desire for survival but there was no explanation as to how she could sense a deceptive vampire to start with. If she just knew _why_ and _how_ she got the sensations when other people didn't she wouldn't mind the ability. A chill ran through her as Klaus slid into the booth next to her and draped his arm along the back of the seat.

"Now, why do you look so glum?" he inquired, his tone light and airy. In her time with him, Klaus had, for the most part, been unexpectedly cordial. The only time he ever really got snippy or short with her was when she intentionally tried to irritate him or they were around other people. Even then he didn't seem to act malicious.

Typically she would have baited him with a smartass rebuttal but the encounter with Damon had been draining. The surprise of seeing him, being acutely reminded of just how much she missed him, pushing him away, again, had consumed more energy than Addie thought it would. She was too tired to go toe to toe with Klaus; her mind wasn't moving fast enough. With a gentle grip on the straw she spun the contents of her glass, the plinking of the ice against the sides somehow comforting. At least the physics of centrifugal force still made sense.

"One of two reasons: I'm saddled to you for the rest of the summer when I just want to go home because I miss my friends and family or because I wasn't warned that I would be on an extended vay-cay I only procured a two month supply of my bipolar medications I've been without my antidepressants for over three weeks and now it's biting me in the ass. Though, I suppose it could be a combination," considered Addie. She knew the dangers of stopping her medication cold turkey but that usually resulted in her heading towards mania rather than depression and despair. Although, with circumstances considered, she wasn't entirely surprised she had been feeling low lately. She hadn't completely spiralled out of control but everything was just too so much work and effort and left her emotionally depleted. It was why being trapped with Klaus had been tolerable; there was no energy left in her to care after she worked so hard to keep up her act of being normal and fine.

"I'm guessing it's the medication thing because we both know you secretly adore my company."

Resting an elbow on the table Addie dropped her head into her palm and looked at Klaus as he casually reclined in the seat. "Either your narcissism has made you delusional or you're just really bad at reading social cues if you really think that. I'm guessing it's the narcissism thing because you're you." Maybe there was enough energy for a little banter.

Addie scowled as he drummed his fingers on the table as he pretended to think. Damon had done that earlier. "It's quite possible you're right. Do you consider vanity and narcissism the same thing?"

"Rebekah is vain, egotistical. You're narcissistic, concerned only about yourself. See, you don't care about how other people feel or even view you and despite being conceited, Rebekah cares about others on some level and definitely obsesses over how she is viewed," she explained.

"You are decidedly neither," Klaus declared, mirroring her in resting his head in his hand. "You're too… magnanimous and compassionate. You should hate me and as much as you may claim to, you don't, at least not entirely."

"Insightful," Addie muttered bitterly. "I do hate you. However, I have no choice but to feel a degree of gratuitousness. The opportunity to attend that program and what I got out of it is life changing."

He smirked, "That was the intention."

Her eyes flickered away from Klaus and to the crowd. "The question remains as to why my life concerns someone who is only concerned with himself," she retorted icly. She had no intention to be so curt but the sight of Damon approaching them fueled her with anger, frustration, and fear. He was easy to spot among the few straggling patrons, most of who were headed towards the exit.

Klaus sat up as Damon slid into the other side of the booth. Addie simply adjusted to resting her chin in her palm; this was bound to be interesting so she might as well have a good view of both their faces. "I see they've opened the doors to the riffraff," Klaus sneered.

Damon smirked and shook his head slightly. "Oh, honey, I've been called worse," he drawled lazily. "Many times by her," he added, nodding his head towards Addie. She considered retorting but it was true. And she felt more like watching their pissing match than getting involved.

"Addison, I recall discussing what would happen if you discussed our arrangement with Damon," the hybrid said, staring at her with disapproval.

"Don't look at me," Addie replied quickly. "You just said I was too compassionate. Does leading someone to their death seem compassionate? Hardly."

"Addison didn't tell me anything. Don't worry, you've got yourself a perfectly trained lap dog," snarled Damon, glaring at her. "Katherine spilled your dirty little secret."

Klaus softly chuckled humorlessly, "Katerina. You don't give up, do you?"

Damon smiled smugly and gave a dismissive shrug. "Give me my brother back. You'll never have to see me again," he proposed.

The other man raised an eyebrow in surprise. He kept his tone cool and neutral as he checked, "Just your brother? No interest in getting your girl back? And here I thought you Salvatores were suckers for love."

"No interest in getting back my ex-girlfriend," confirmed Damon. " _Addison,_ " she winced at the way he spat out her name as if it were a bad taste, "wants to be with you. I took an hour to process it, accept it, and move on to more interesting things."

"Really?" Klaus mused, looking at Addie curiously. "When did this discussion happen?"

"We had a nice long discussion while you were out running your errand for Gloria," informed Damon lightly. "So, my brother?"

"What were the details of that discussion?" Klaus asked, studying Addie.

She plucked the little toothpick umbrella out of her soda. She wasn't exactly sure why Gloria had put it in her drink but she was grateful for the distraction. The yellow umbrella twirled as she rolled the toothpick between her thumb and forefinger. Klaus could wait as long as he wanted for an answer but she wasn't giving him one. This little spat was between her _ex-boyfriend_ and Klaus. Her eyes stung as the way Damon had called her his ex-girlfriend replayed in her head. That kiss hadn't felt like they were over with. She had never really explained that she said she needed separation from him in order to keep him from worrying about her when she didn't talk to him for the rest of the summer. With what she had said and done, she could see how Damon would interpret everything as her picking Klaus over him. It shouldn't have hurt so bad or been such a shock when he used the word 'ex' and effectively ended them for good. He was really letting her go. He'd gone through with his suicidal threat to buy Elena time with Stefan. Klaus was going to rip his heart out. And she was going to have to watch.

Damon scowled; he didn't like the way Klaus was looking at Addie. Whether that predatory, lustful grin was because he wanted to kill her after winning her over or because he wanted something else Damon wasn't sure but he didn't care. He had known since Klaus had invaded Alaric that he was a predator and Addie was his prey. There had been the subtle innuendos and banter they exchanged that tipped him off to Klaus' game; Addie was too naive to sense it. Damon knew the game; he use to rule at hunting. Klaus never intended to kill Addie quickly. Damon had been right when he predicted the hybrid to do one of two things: win her trust before he attacked or find a way close to her through a backdoor and strik from there.

Addie never fully explained how she ended up in Chicago with Klaus but he knew Klaus had manipulated her by threatening to hurt the people she cared about. Threatening to kill him. Then she had a chance to escape with him earlier and she chose to stay with Klaus. That threw him off. Klaus had gotten close to her by having information Addie wanted and she was trusting that he wasn't going to kill her. What Addie didn't know was that she had fallen into Klaus' trap. It was a matter of time until he got bored of toying with her and killed her. Damon hand no idea how to get her out of Klaus' grasp when she wanted to stay. He had to make her want to leave and being with him wasn't enough of a reason.

From what he knew of Klaus, he gathered that the Original wanted to inflict pain and destruction. If Klaus did something that hurt Addie, though, she wouldn't care about what information he had and she would get away from him. His life still meant something to Addie if she was protecting him. If Klaus killed him, Addie would escape Klaus. Elena would convince Stefan to leave Klaus and he would protect both girls.

"There wasn't much of a conversation. Addie told me to leave town because she wanted to stay with you. Of course, she was conceited to think that I was here for her. I want my brother back. The girl is all yours," Damon said smoothly. He didn't meet the dark blue eyes that flashed to him. It was likely that his words hurt her; she didn't know what he was doing. Hell, he wasn't exactly sure what he was doing. Was he really trying to goad Klaus into killing him with the thought that it would somehow save Addie? His eyes accidentally met hers as he nervously push a hand through his hair. She was confused but that nervous tick made her look at him with suspicion and concern.

Addie barely registered Klaus plucking the toothpick umbrella between her fingers. Her heart jumped when he whispered in her ear but her eyes stayed fixed on Damon. "You know, this is a much less interesting confrontation than I had hoped for. What is he planning to get you back?"

"He's telling the truth," she answered softly, hoping her voice was convincing. "Damon's not interested in me. Ask Rebekah. We broke up before the program ended. 'Outta sight, outta mind' beats 'absence makes the heart grow fonder.'"

"Huh," Klaus observed with interest. "You're about to cry and he doesn't look like he could care less. I'm conflicted on whether to believe that is because he has truly lost interest in you or if it's simply because he's jealous that you'd rather stay with me."

"Damon doesn't get jealous; he just gets even. He would be talking to Stefan and trying to convince him to leave you if he was trying to get even. I want you so he'd make Stefan want him. Instead he's directly approaching you about getting Stefan back because he no longer cares about me. He's not trying to get even with you for having something he wants," Addie reasoned, hoping whatever she said made sense. Damon had said he wouldn't leave Chicago without but he wasn't trying to negotiate getting her back. What game he was play, she had no idea but she'd go along with it. Though, the fact that he was nervous about whatever he had planned was enough to tell her it was a really stupid idea

"This is hardly any fun, then. Didn't I tell you part of keeping you with me and cut off from Damon was to make him suffer?"

Her voice was barely a whisper, "Yes."

Klaus leaned back as he twirled the toothpick between his fingers. "What shall I do with you now?" he questioned Damon. "Keeping your girl doesn't seem to be causing you any heartache. Having your brother in my servitude is definitely rubbing at you the wrong way. There's no way I'm giving him back. I would have you take Addison back to Mystic Falls seeing as I'm done with her but she wants to stay so that makes you quite useless. I'll admit I'm torn. You see, I promised Stefan I wouldn't let you die, but how many freebies did I really sign up for? And clearly you want to die, otherwise you would have been smart and left town when Addie told you to."

Damon smirked and lifted his hand helplessly as he taunted, "What can I say? I'm a thrill-seeker."

In the blink of an eye Klaus had vacated his seat, pulled Damon from his and had him dangling a few inches above the ground, clutching him by his throat. Addie stifled a squeal as she realized Damon's plan. He was actually trying to get himself killed. _Why_ would he do something so stupid?

The hybrid cocked his head in confusion as Damon slightly choked. "Oh, dear, what was that?" he mocked. "I'm boozey, so you'll forgive me if I miss your heart the first few times."

It was then Addie saw that Klaus still held the toothpick. She didn't know if she should be anxious or relieved. Despite what Klaus had said it would never pierce Damon deep enough to reach his heart. Damon gave a grunt of pain when Klaus stabbed him in the stomach. Since when were toothpicks even made strong enough to pierce vampire flesh, Addie wondered as she looked away. She had no idea what Damon was planning but she wasn't fond of anything that involved him being in pain. He wasn't even fighting back.

"Ohh. No, that's not it. Hmm," Klaus paused to consider where he would attack next. In between the ribs, just below the vampire's heart seemed like a good place. He smiled when Damon cried out louder in pain. "Ohh. Almost."

"You want a partner in crime? Forget Stefan. I'm so much more fun," suggested Damon, gasping for air.

With ease Klaus chucked him backwards, sending him onto a table across the room. The wood crashed under the force Damon hit it with, leaving him flat on his back. Addie scrambled out of the booth and towards Klaus when he broke of the leg of a chair as he approached Damon. Klaus really was going to kill him. Screw whatever suicidal plan that idiot had. She wasn't going to let Klaus stake him. If anyone was killing Damon it would be her in a fit of rage for him embarking on another pointless plan to get himself killed.

The hybrid crouched over the vampire and snarled, "You won't be any fun after you're dead."

With one hand pinning Damon down Klaus raised the stake, poised to strike. Addie reached them just in time to grab Klaus' wrist making him hesitate in the attack. Anxiously she demanded, "Are you a man of your word or not?"

"Kinda in the middle of something, Addison," he glowered, glancing meaningfully at her hand.

"Yeah and this has to do with that something," she snapped back. She tried to tug the stake out of Klaus grasp but couldn't. Still, he wasn't advancing on Damon and she had to take advantage of that while she could. Her words came out in a rush, "You promised that Damon's life was safe as long as I did not tell him about our arrangement. I _didn't_ tell him so you'll be breaking your word if you kill him. You're right; he shouldn't get an unlimited number of freebies but I expect him to survive the length of our deal."

Addie couldn't read Klaus but the long moment of silence suggested he was calculating the pros and cons to simply killing Damon. His grip loosened enough on the stake for Addie to take it. Destroying the arrogant bastard would on hinder his agenda at that moment. He could feel Damon trying to sit up but Klaus pushed him back down and hissed, "You don't have to negotiate your brother's freedom. When I'm done with him, he won't want to come back." Standing back up he headed for the exit. Over his shoulder he called to Addie, "I suggest you get him out of here before I change my mind. "

"What the hell were you thinking?" Damon scolded, getting back to his feet.

"Me?! I wasn't the one about to let Klaus kill me without so much of a fight. Have you lost your damn mind?" she glowered, tossing aside the chairleg.

"You don't stop an insane hybrid in the middle of an attack unless you want to be his next victim," he replied curtly, ignoring her question. She had totally fucked up his plan and now she was still Klaus' little toy.

Addie stepped back from him, holding up her hands in a surrender. "Klaus still wants me alive. He wants to be on my good side. That's the only reason he didn't kill you. As long as it stays like that, as long as Klaus wants something from me, he's not going to kill me. I wasn't putting myself in danger. I-"

"Seriously?" Damon cut her off loudly. "Are you really that damn naive, Ads? Every second you are with him puts your life in greater and greater danger. Don't be stupid and start trusting him!"

"I'm not trusting anybody! I know he's volatile. I know what he's capable of. You seem to have forgotten that I dealt with your insanity!"

He laughed bitterly, "That is a horrible point. You ended up trusting me."

"I only ended up trusting you because you started to change your ways," she fumed. "And I still don't fully trust you! If I did, I would have told you about my arrangement with Klaus because I could trust that you wouldn't do something stupid!"

"What exactly is this arrangement you have with Klaus? What makes you think he isn't going to rip out your throat in a heartbeat?"

Addie ran her fingers through her hair. There wasn't time to discuss this with him; Klaus wasn't past changing his mind and returning to kill him. "Go, Damon. Just go. I'll explain everything when I get home."

Damon gave her a look of disbelief and scoffed, "You're not coming home. I don't think you understand how this whole hostage situation works."

"Oh my god! Get you things," she assumed he could figure out she meant Elena in case they were being spied on, "and get the hell out of Chicago. Klaus will uphold his end of the deal. If I'm not back in time for school, you can gloat and bask in the glory of being right and knowing that he isn't a man of his word."

"Tell me the truth, Addie. Do you truly want to stay with him or are you saying and doing that because you're worried about how he will retaliate if you leave?" he asked in a low, dangerous voice, flames of anger flickering in his eyes.

If she pissed him off enough than maybe he would go. "It's not an either/or situation. I'm staying with Klaus for both of those reasons. I'm well aware of what Klaus has done and who he is but I'm not going to run away and hide like some little girl afraid of the big bad wolf. This isn't some parasitic, hostage relationship. It's a mutualistic relationship; he's getting something out of me being with him and I'm going to get something out of it too."

"You're truly an idiot if that's what you believe is going on. This thing is toxic and he's only going to kill you! If you don't leave with me-"

"What?" Addie snapped. "What's going to happen if I don't leave with you?"

Damon crossed his arms and puffed his chest out, trying to look more intimidating. Addie always got what she wanted from him. He had to think of something that was valuable to her. He cleared his throat, "I won't have been lying to Klaus when I called you my ex-girlfriend."

"Seriously?" she whispered, shoving her hands into her pocket uncomfortably.

"It's him or me, Ads."

She shook her head in disagreement and sighed, "You really think that's what it about? That is what everything boils down to? It's not about either one of you. It's about protecting the people I care about. Every second that you stay here, you're making everything more and more dangerous for _everyone_. I just want you to go home and be safe."

Addie was far more important than the implications she was making about Elena's safety. It would be a lie if he said he hadn't thought of offering to trade sisters. The only reason he decided against the idea was because Addie would never forgive him. He couldn't believe she was actually denying him. "That's your choice?"

"If you think it's a choice, I guess so," she mumbled. This was serious. Damon wasn't just declaring a separation in the name of some plan. He was earnestly going to break up with her.

* * *

The light of the room flickered through the cracked door; Klaus had lit the fire place. Addie wasn't exactly sure why hotels had fireplaces; they were such a liability. An ember could jump from it and grow into something more. As he paced back and forth Klaus' silhouette came in and out of view. Something inside her pulled her towards the door and she opened it just enough to slide in. Klaus glanced at her as she entered his room of the hotel suite. He resumed pacing when he saw that she was simply sitting in the chaise lounge chair.

It was curious that Klaus hadn't made any remark on her appearance. Though, the Original had been acting very peculiar for the past few weeks, ever since he had discovered that Rebekah no longer had the necklace Gloria needed to contact the Original witch. He disappeared a lot and always came back in a foul mood. Addie had to guess that he was out scouring Chicago. It was the last confirmed location of the necklace. The only thing keeping her sister safe was a lost necklace. If she was lucky it was possible that the talisman had been dropped into Lake Michigan.

"There's a week before school starts," Addie remarked quietly. She knew her deal with Klaus and she knew better than to press her luck. This was the first time she even vaguely mentioned anything about going hope. Escaping Klaus.

Klaus stopped in front of the fire, his hands behind his back. The position left his face cast in the shadows. He'd been with so preoccupied with finding the necklace and resisting the desire to dagger his sister that he had forgotten to pursue his interest in Addie. "I'll book you a flight." He say her get up from the corner of his eye and held his hand out to her, motioning for her to stay put. He reflected on her odd behaviors of late. She had been refusing to go on his little outings, not that he had offered many since he spent most of his time looking for a necklace. Rebekah hadn't even been able to drag her out on her shopping adventures. Really, Addie hadn't come out of her room or done much of anything. It had been nearly a week since she had last asked him to text her brother. Her whole attitude had seemed downhill since…. "What happened between you and Damon when he showed up here?"

"What?" Addie gaped, taken aback.

"You've been different since then."

"I told you; I've been out of my medication for over a month. It's not that surprising that I've been depressed. That's kinda like the expected outcome when you take away mood stabilizers and antidepressants," she quipped back, forcing a winning smile.

Klaus eyed her suspiciously. "What are you hiding"

"Lots of things. What do you want to know?"

"Stefan has been much more friendly lately. Why?" he demanded.

Addie had observed that and she also took note of how Stefan refused to make eye contact with her anymore. It was unnerving. There was some thing up with him but she didn't know if it was good or bad. She opted to think the best of him. She scoffed, as if the answer was obvious, "He has all his memories back. I would think that would make anyone happy. It means you're not screwing with him anymore. Plus, you guys were friends. You're trying to bring back the guy from the 1920s and be friends with him, right? I see no reason to complain."

"Fair enough. My sister has an unnatural attachment to that necklace. You didn't see it with her in London, did you?"

"Nope. Why are you so obsessed with making more hybrids?"

Klaus raised an eyebrow at her. Did she really expect an honest answer? "An immortal army stronger and better than any vampire? Able to kill one with a single bite? Who wouldn't want that?"

"I don't think I would," Addie said innocently. "They would all outlive me and would kind of be lethal to my vampire friend."

"No, you're unnaturally passive, though. You don't have the stomach to lead an army." She shrugged it off; she hadn't expected to hear the truth. "What was Damon playing at when he showed up here?"

Having thought about that a lot herself, Addie laughed humorlessly, "I have absolutely no clue. The Damon I knew wouldn't have let you kill him without a fight. I don't know why he came to you with a death wish."

"Rebekah says you broke up with him."

"I… it's complicated. Damon and I wanted different things. Meaning he wanted to screw around with everyone and I just wasn't cool with that idea," she nodded, going with the same story she told his sister.

"That's very interesting. What I have a hard time understanding is why a man so obviously in love with you didn't fight to win you back from me."

Addie ran her hand through her hair, debating how she wanted to answer. "Damon doesn't handle betrayal well. No matter how much he may care about me, the fact that I wouldn't leave with him was a betrayal. It was like I picked you over him."

"Why did you decide that?" he wondered, curious ever since Damon had mentioned.

"You knew Stefan would have an allergic reaction to my blood. I want to know how you knew that. Plus, there was the whole you killing everyone I care about factor," she admitted.

"Easy. Your blood smelled too sweet."

"Yeah but how did you know that having sweet blood would cause that kind of a reaction."

Klaus gave her a dark, knowing look. "When you've been around as long as I have you learn a few things. Some of them tend to be quite useful."

"What else do you know about me?"

"Nothing I didn't already know," he sighed in resignation, sitting on the bed.

She huffed in frustration. He was being obnoxious on purpose. "Well, what do you already know?"

"Your blood keeps you safe from vampires eating you. I thought you couldn't be compelled but you've done everything I've told you to. I figured there would be something else special about you but there's nothing. You're a fast runner but not fast enough to help you out run anything. You're really intelligent but you're not smart enough to outwit an immortal. Really, the only thing remarkable about you is how much you don't want to accept the supernatural as fact," he finished with a laugh.

Addie's eyebrows furrowed in disappointment. "That's a boost to the ego… and not any new information. W-Why would you assume there is something special about me?"

Klaus smirked, "How many normal people have their blood act as a natural defense mechanism against vampires?"

"You know, considering the way you don't seem to discriminate in who you kill, I'm going to guess not very many," she replied, feigning careful thought. Slowly she recalled, "At the airport you said it had something to do with Gilbert DNA. The doppelganger effect overruled whatever Gilbert DNA does. Jeremy, though, he doesn't… a vampire can drink his blood."

He nodded knowingly. "I believe your brother has other Gilbert traits. I've traced back your paternal family history back to 1100AD. Every now and then something odd shows up in the gene pool. If there is a birth of a son and daughter in the direct lineage that leads to you, the sister typically has poisonous blood."

"What does the son have anything to do with it? What's, uh, what's with my brother?" Addie pressed, shaking her head in confusion.

"As of now? Absolutely nothing; your brother is perfectly normal."

She looked at him warily, shifting uncomfortably on the chaise. "And as of _not_ now?"

Unconcerned he answered, "Your brother will most likely remain perfectly normal."

" _Most likely?_ What is that suppose to mean?"

"There are six billion people in the world. Of those six billion people only five should concern you if you're so worried about your brother. One of them dies and your brother kills a vampire it is possible that he turn into the Hulk, He'll be stronger, faster, and have a thirst to kill vampires. Think of it as an upgrade. On the whole, Jeremy has a 99% chance of remaining as an unremarkable, average human," Klaus explained.

Addie mulled over what he said. It didn't make sense. She got that her brother would want to kill vampires but she already kind of sensed that from him. Except when he wanted to date a vampire. There was something that wasn't adding up, though. "These five people, why is Jeremy connected to them?"

"Genetics. There are several people connected to these five people. When one dies, there always has to be someone to take their place. That's not likely to happen if your brother is the only eligible candidate. What if he never even believed in vampires? It would be unlikely that he kill one and step up to the plate. So there always has to be multiple possibilities.

"I know all about your brother's potential; I was curious about yours. That's why I wanted you with me. I wanted to observe you. I haven't gathered there being much that is special about you. I think that is reserved for you brother. Your blood is just poisonous to protect you from the vampires your brother may bring into your life, I'm guessing," reasoned Klaus.

That was why she was dragged out to Chicago? She was some scientific experiment for Klaus to observe? His revelation was much less climactic than she had anticipated. He'd given her no answer about what or who she was. Damon had already concluded that it was a defense mechanism.

"How do you know all this about my brother?" Addie demanded protectively. It was perfectly fine if Klaus wanted to observe her but he needed to leave Jeremy out of his crazy hybrid business.

"I've been around a long time. I've learned a thing or two. Really, there's nothing fascinating about any of this so I recommend you let it go," Klaus said firmly, making it clear that he was done discussing the topic.

Addie stared into the fire as she contemplated just how far she was willing to push this with Klaus. He knew more than he was telling her. So much more. The need to know overtook her desire for self-preservation. She licked her lips anxiously as she crossed the room and grabbed his hand. The squeeze was meant to convey just how desperate she was. Her words were barely an urgent whisper over the crackling of the fire, "Jeremy and me, we're all that each other have. I need to know what you know. I need to be able to protect what is left of my family."

Klaus guardedly observed how she held his hand in hers. While unnatural, the contact wasn't uncomfortable. His eyes hardened before flashing up to her pleading face. He replied coolly, "For once, back off of something when someone tells you too. It's typically in your best interest."

"Please. I can no longer count how many nights I've lost sleep wondering about what's wrong with me. Knowing that Jeremy can become infected is never going to let me sleep if I don't fully understand this," she insisted, biting at her lip to look weak and anxious.

He grinned and bit back a sharp laugh."That's your problem, Addison; you don't know how to accept things for what they are. Everything needs to be neat and rational for you. You know that has a lot to do with why you're always anxious, right? You have this need to know what's going to happen and you get overwhelmed and lost when you don't see the future. Just accept life for what it is. For example, you're an enigma for the most part but you don't see me getting all bent out of shape because of it."

Her brows furrowed; Damon had once said she was a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside of an enigma. Personally, she didn't see herself as a very complicated person, at least not when she was stable. Her life and patterns were based on logic. Damon was her guilty, little flaw to that; how she felt about him, what he did to her, what he meant to her was all without sense. She wondered aloud, "How exactly am I an enigma?"

"You've been extremely compliant with my wants and demands. I expected someone so headstrong and independent to push her limits much more than you have. Even with me threatening the lives of the ones you love, I still expected some fight from you. I don't see how you can be so obstructive and annoying with Damon and yet so passive with me. When I first met you when I was inhabiting your friend, you reacted to me with so much… fire and resistance. There has been none of that. For the most part you've been extremely sensible and cautious in dealing with me," reflected Klaus, again staring at how she held his hand. It was interesting how her grip tightened and then relaxed when he mentioned the vampire.

Addie shook her head, frustrated with herself as she sat next to him in dejection. She had been embarrassingly compliant and complacent but it was just too much _work_ to battle Klaus. Fighting with Damon came as easily as breathing but it took energy to be like that with the Original hybrid.

"When I met you, everyone was fighting you. We all were against you. We thought we could kill you. The fire and resistance just came so easily knowing everyone had my back and we were gonna win," admitted Addie. She couldn't tell how much was truth versus how much was a lie. "Then you won. Elijah betrayed us. You managed to kill my sister. You killed my aunt. You broke the curse. You took Stefan away. I knew from the moment you approached me in the airport that I had to deal with you differently. You're this uncontrollable, destructive wildfire. I know better than to fight your flames with fire. You'd retaliate and not care who you burned. When you made me picked between the program or leaving with you then you had me pinned down. If I chose to fight you, you were going to attack. So I've suffered my time with you relatively amicable. One firefighter would be stupid to try and take down or even try to hold back a wildfire. You need a smart team, otherwise everyone suffers. To be an ass with you would have just resulted in everyone I love suffering. I'd prefer to not test the limits if it is someone else, rather than myself, who will be hurt.

"I can fight with Damon because he's a star; his flames only reach so far due to his gravitational field. He is predictable. I know how close I can get to him without getting burned. Sometimes I push things a little too far with him and get a sunburn but everyone I know is there to back me up with sunblock and vervain. If I piss Damon off, he's going to hurt _me_ , not the people supporting me. You both have the potential to be extremely destructive, which makes playing with fire fun but what _you_ will destroy is worth more than some amusement."

"You realize flames and the sun, a star, are lethal to a vampire," Klaus smirked at her. She had her reason for being so docile but, like everything, Addie had to explain herself in a most bizarre way. He wasn't sure if she thought so differently that she had a problem explaining things simply or if she found it amusing to watch people try and understand her.

Addie smirked at him and settled for a wink since she couldn't raise a single, suggestive eyebrow. It didn't mean exactly the same thing but Klaus would get her point. Smartly she quipped, "I know. I don't think you realize that you will both be the cause of your own demise."

"I'm immortal. Fire won't kill me."

She laughed and inclined her head to the fireplace. "Stick your head in there; I'm not entirely convinced of that."

"Didn't you already try to destroy my brother with a flamethrower?" he grinned.

Her hands raised innocently. "That was Damon," she quickly corrected. "I'm not that stupid but he… well, like I said, he'll cause his own demise."

"I can't have a demise," he retorted, reviewing her words.

She replied ominously, "The definition of demise does not specify death."

* * *

The pulling and tugging of her hair made Addie scowl as she watched Gloria work some sort of spell at a table in the empty club. Rebekah hadn't asked for permission to braid her hair but she found that it was usually easier to let the girl do what she wanted rather than argue with her. Addie couldn't help but wonder just how long they were going to sit and watch the witch do nothing.

Klaus had woken up that morning in a particularly bad and demanding mood. While he, Stefan, and Addie had watched Rebekah play as a runway model in an upscale boutique downtown it occurred to him that Gloria could perhaps do a locator spell to find the necklace. Stefan had left their little group to go kill someone but Klaus did not have the patience to wait for the vampire to return once he came to his revelation about the talisman. Subsequently Rebekah and Addie were dragged to the bar where Klaus pressured Gloria into using magic. Over the course of two hours it did not appear that any progress was being made. Her hands floating over a large grimoire on a table filled with candles just seemed to be for show.

"You left us," Rebekah suddenly accused as Stefan walked into the club and over to where they waited at the bar.

"Yeah, sorry," he apologized, not sounding the least bit like he actually was. "Retailed therapy was making my head explode."

Klaus muttered, "Tell me about."

At the same time Addie scowled, "Join the club."

"What is she doing?" Stefan asked quietly, looking at Gloria.

"She's failing," snarled Klaus.

"It's hard to find something when you don't have anything to go on," the witch bit back sharply, her attention never leaving the table.

Rebekah hopped off the bar and huffed in impatience, "So use me. I only wore it for a thousand years.'

Gloria looked over her shoulder and smirked at Klaus as the girl approached her. "See? Now this one offers a solution." She turned her attention to Rebekah as she sat on the table and instructed, "All right, give me your hand sweetheart."

Stefan's brow furrowed as he crossed his arms and leaned against the bar next to Addie and quietly uttered, "She's, uh, she's looking for the necklace, huh?"

Klaus nodded while Addie critically assessed Stefan. He had been very chummy with Klaus ever since he learned that they were looking for a necklace. She had been sensing a light shade of grey from him. Stefan was up to something or he definitely knew something about the necklace.

"I can sense something," Gloria said after a minute.

Addie noticed the way Stefan shifted uncomfortably next to her and discreetly gave him a curious look. The shake of his head was barely perceptible. He took a few steps towards the witch as she began to chant in Latin. After a minute she dropped Rebekah's hand and turned to look at the other three.

"I found it."

"So where is it?" demanded the blonde vampire.

Gloria frowned at Rebekah. "It doesn't work like that, doll. I get images. There's a girl with her friends-"

There was no way Addie missed the was Stefan suddenly tensed. He had once given Elena a necklace, ornate and very old looking. He had put vervain in it to keep her safe. It simply couldn't be the same necklace, she decided. Stefan was simply anxious because finding the object just meant Klaus was one step closer to finding out that Elena was still alive.

"Yes, a dead girl with dead friends, if I don't get my necklace back," Rebekah snapped angrily, cutting the witch off.

"Well, I'll have to dive back in to get the details," the witch replied casually.

Klaus began to walk towards her and just as coolly ordered, "So dive."

Gloria shook her head as she looked at him. "I need more time." Klaus rested his hands on the table and peered down into the witch's face. "And space," she chastised.

Addie took the few steps she needed to reach Stefan and lightly put a hand on his arm as she looked up at him questioningly. He gave her a dark, grave look as he mouthed her sister's name.

"We can wait," Klaus replied lightly, not moving.

"I'm sure you can but that's not what I asked," Gloria cut back sharply.

"Hey. Hey, you know, why don't we just com back later," suggested Stefan as he clapped a hand on Klaus's shoulder. "I'm hungry anyway. I'll let you pick who we eat."

Stefan started making his way to the door without waiting for a response. Halfway there he looked back at Klaus and Rebekah meaningfully. The hybrid looked at his sister before turning to walk away. The girl followed. Addie tried to move back to the bar without drawing attention to herself but soon felt Klaus' cool grasp against her elbow dragging him with her. Of all the horrible things that happened in her time with Klaus, watching them feed was the worse. It combined two of the things that made her most uncomfortable, blood and death.

* * *

"How long does it take Stefan to write a name on a wall," Addie glowered as she trailed next to Klaus from the parking spot back to Gloria's. "Isn't he suppose to be your wingman in this?"

"He probably snatched someone else to eat along the way. Next time I shall I leave you to help Rebekah with the dead bodies?" Klaus sneered.

She hate when he was right. Addie huffed, "Fine. Being on the Witch Duty committee is better than being on the Corpse Disposal council."

"Thought you would see it my way," he smirked smugly.

Klaus halted when a ringing began to issue from his pants. He raised an eyebrow demanding an explanation as he pulled out Addie's cell phone.

Her hands fell to her hips as she glared at him. "Now, how am I supposed to know what you're all pissy about if I can't tell who's calling?" He turned the phone to show her the caller ID. Addie felt a chill run through her as the blood drained from her face. "You have to let me answer it. She wouldn't call unless it was an emergency," she pleaded. He shook his head. "I _know_ Caroline. She's just going to keep calling and calling until I answer. If you expect her to still believe I'm traveling through Europe, I'd answer her call. If I ignore her, she'll know something is wrong. Then she'll tell my brother. Then everything becomes a big mess."

"If you say anything-"

"You think I'm going to spill _now_ about you holding me hostage? I have my flight back home tomorrow. I'm not going to say something stupid and send you into a killing rampage to destroy everyone I care about," she snarked indignantly. With a slight reluctance Klaus passed her the phone. "I suppose a little privacy would be too much to ask?" she implored, knowing she was pushing her luck.

"Meet me in the club," Klaus growled, stalking away.

Addie wasn't sure whether she was rolling her eyes at him or at person calling when she answered with a curt, "Hello?"

"You need to get your ass back here," Caroline snapped angrily.

"And why is that?" Addie drawled out in boredom as she leaned against the side of a building.

"Because everything has gone nuts without you here! Your sister and Damon have lost their minds!"

She studied her nails in disinterest, none of what Caroline was saying was that surprising. "What exactly do you expect me to do about it?"

"Get back here and keep them in check! You're sister is _cooking_ with Damon."

Addie held back a laugh, "Is _cooking_ the new way of saying hooking up?"

"Practically!" Caroline cried. "Damon's gotten under your sister's skin and now she's attracted to him and all his bad brother glory."

"I don't see how any of that is my problem."

"He's _your_ boyfriend. Elena is with Stefan! Your sister and boyfriend are practically making out!" the other girl insisted frantically.

Addie winced at the idea but made sure her voice was firm and cool as she informed, "Damon is no longer my boyfriend. We broke up. He's free to move in on Elena. And if Elena wants him… well, he's her problem, not mine."

"O.M.G. Did you guys seriously break up?"

"No, I find this to be a very hilarious joke to pull," she replied flatly.

Caroline gave a whine of frustration from the other end. "No wonder Damon's acting so… _Damon_. That's also part of why you need to come home! You're the only one who can control him. Elena's trying to but she's really just trying to turn him into Stefan!"

She was about to respond with another smart retort but hesitated. Damon was acting out? "First of all, Damon isn't someone I can control, I just accept him for who he is. If you leave a dragon alone he'll likely go about his business and leave you alone. If you try and train the dragon chances are he's going to spit fire at you."

"You're not making sense again. Look, I just got into a fight with him because he was eating my dad! He killed Alaric!"

"When did your dad come back to town?" Addie asked as she worked to mask her surprise at the information regarding Damon's behavior. She wanted to say it wasn't like him but if Elena was trying to change him, Addie could see how he might be stressed into snapping. Attacking someone innocent and killing his best friend, knowing he'd come back to life, was normal behavior for an angry Damon.

"Seriously?" Caroline scoffed. "You take that away as being the most important point?"

"Let me make sure I'm understanding this correctly. You want me to come home and try to make Damon behave because everyone's being reminded of how he acts when he doesn't get his way and you want me to keep Elena from falling for him?"

"Ideally you and Damon would get back together. It really just solves all of the problems."

"Me coming back isn't going to change anything. Damon's still going to be a dick. Elena's still going to be attracted to him. And she's still likely to try and make him change. See, if Damon and I were still dating I see how some of that might be my problem but we aren't and so none of it really is my concern. Go be a big girl and handle the big bad vampire and my whorish sister yourself," Addie snipped, quickly ending the phone call.

"Well, it seems the witch has cleared out but I don't quite think I need her anymore," Klaus said in a low, dangerous voice as he closed in on Addie.

Suddenly her throat was dry and her mouth felt like it was filled with cotton. "How much of that did you over hear?"

He gave her a dark, predatory grin and growled, "Enough." Klaus' hand snapped out and squeezed around her throat.

* * *

 **A/N: So we have some answers as to what's up with Addie's blood but that seems to be all the knowledge Klaus is going to share at the moment. Evil bastard. Next we return to Mystic Falls and Addie gets to confront Damon.**

 **Also, I do my best to update every Friday but my life has just done a complete 180 and I've lost a significant amount of time that I get to work on this. We might be looking at every other Friday or shorter chapters. - Let me know what you prefer.**

 **Thank you everyone for all your reviews, favorites, and follows!**


	6. Chapter 5

Addie groaned as the gentle jostling of a car brought her back to consciousness. Klaus flashed her a quick glance before focusing back on the road. The purple coloring in the shape of a hand around her throat told him he got her good. Her eyes squeezed tight as she tried to recollect what happened.

Klaus had clutched at her neck, cutting off her air supply. He'd made her blackout. Because he was angry. And he was upset because he had overheard her conversation with Caroline. He heard her discuss Elena. Klaus knew Elena was alive. That was bad, very, very bad.

Still not opening her eyes Addie lifted a hand to gently rub where Klaus had grabbed. The pain from the light graze made her certain he had left a bruise. Frowning she muttered, "You choked me."

"You lied to me."

"You choked me!"

"You lied to me."

"You-"

"Are we really going to do this all day?" Klaus drawled out in boredom as he turned towards the warehouse. "Consider the choke your warning. Next time you lie to me I'll kill you."

Rolling her head against the back of the seat Addie gave Klaus a smirk so smug she deemed it worthy of Damon. "I've never lied to you."

He growled, "You said I killed your sister."

"And that's true; you did kill her. She was dead for a few hours and then my uncle gave up his soul or something in some witchy spell. So, John died to bring my sister back to life," she explained. "I still don't like you for temporarily killing my sister, though.

Klaus gave a grunt of anger as he threw the car into the parking space. Before Addie could even begin to get out Klaus was opening her door and unbuckling her seatbelt. She swatted at his hands, insisting she was perfectly capable out getting out on her own but Addie stopped fighting when he grabbed her just above the elbow hard enough to make her eyes water. Her feet stumbled as her roughly yanked her from the car.

"You don't need to manhandle me! I'm sure I can follow you. I've been doing it for like six weeks," hissed Addie as the hybrid dragged her through the warehouse.

"Shut up before I kill you," he snarled as they turned to where Rebekah and Stefan were. "Gloria's gone. She's cleared out. We need to get a new witch immediately and I know just where to find one," he quickly snapped at the two vampires. His grip on Addie lessened as he noticed the awkward tension. "What's going on?"

"Something's wrong. He was asking about Mikael. He's not with us, Nik. I can sense it," Rebekah urgently insisted.

Stefan shook his head at the accusation and tried to reassure the hybrid, "She's wrong, Klaus."

Addie let out a shriek when Klaus was suddenly at Stefan, breaking his neck. She gasped in horror as he crumbled to the ground, lifeless. "What - Why - why would you do that?" she stammered, making it a point to look anywhere but Stefan. Even though he was only temporarily dead, the awkward angle of his neck still made her stomach violently churn.

"Would you prefer I have done that to you?" Klaus asked in a cool, casual voice that didn't betray the anger flaring in his eyes. "He'll wake up, you wouldn't. I find choking you to be a much nicer way of punishing you for your betrayal."

Her tongue hurt as she bit at it to keep from retorting about how she never technically betrayed him.

"Rebekah, take Addison to the car as I get some guys to load up the truck. We leave now."

* * *

Addie felt a sinking feeling in her stomach as they left the city of Lynchburg via Highway 29. Klaus had refused to tell her where they were going but she knew now. The road passed right through the center of Mystic Falls. The witch he knew of must have been Bonnie. While they were in town he could snatch Rebekah's necklace, the talisman, right from her sister's throat. She wondered if he would do that before or after snapping Elena's neck. He was in a very throat and neck maiming mood. Every few hours or so they would stop at a rest area and Klaus would get into the back of the semi truck following them and temporarily kill Stefan again. At each stop he also took the time to compress her airways until she blacked out again. In the rearview mirror she had gotten a glance of the dark purple scars he had left. The bruises where he had grabbed her to pull her out of the car weren't nearly as nasty looking.

They were screwed, she and everyone she cared about. It had been impossible to manage Klaus without fatalities and him being in a good mood. Now, Klaus was pissed and had Stefan under his command. It was not likely that Alaric had simply forgiven Damon for being a dick and killing him, making the vampire on bad terms with everyone but her sister. Unfortunately a vital part of Team Badass was Damon and him getting along with everyone. Without any sense of harmony and cooperation they stood absolutely no chance of defeating Klaus. It had been a disaster attempt when it seemed like there was a possibility of winning.

To put off on deciding whether it was wiser to assist Klaus or if it was worth fighting him, she leaned forward between the front seats and asked, "Who's Mikael?"

"No one," Klaus gritted out. His knuckles turned white as he held the steering wheel tighter.

"I totally believe that," Addie replied without a hint of sarcasm. "What made you think Stefan was against you for asking about Mikael."

"Mikael does matter," the hybrid snapped harshly. "Stefan was obviously against me because he has let me believe this entire summer that Elena was dead."

She tilted her head in feigned confusion and falsely hesitated, "But, Rebekah was the one who sensed something off about Stefan. He hadn't been talking to her about Elena; he had been discussing Mikael. Somehow, Mikael matters."

Klaus tensed and grumbled, "I think I prefer you unconscious."

"About that,Niklaus, how long do you plan on making me pass out simply because I didn't tell you my sister was alive?" demanded Addie. Innocently she added, "I really didn't think it mattered and don't see why it does."

"It matters because I was lied to and because all we know is that the damn necklace is with some girl. That narrows it down to approximately three billion people. I need a witch to find out more. Mystic Falls has one with the power of a hundred witches," he explained reasonably.

"Not to mention we get the chance to rip that cow's bloody head off," Rebekah snarled quietly.

"Bonnie lost access to the witches when the sheriff killed my brother and she screwed with the balance of nature by bringing him back. And what cow?"

"Your sister! Your suppose-to-be-dead sister!"

Ignoring the chill of dread that ran down her spine Addie scoffed, "I'll agree that Elena's a cow but I don't see why we should kill her for that."

"Stefan is never going to love anyone like he loves your sister with her still alive," the blonde spat.

Even though she knew it was a risky, stupid act, Addie couldn't force down the laughter that bubbled up. "Seriously? You want to kill my sister because you're jealous of her? It's been 90 years! Move on; Stefan has. Do you think he's going to fall for the person that kills the girl whose love lifts him up, turns thunders into spring and flowers, and every other disgusting romantic cliche?"

Quicker than Addie could see, Rebekah's hand shot towards her throat. Lightning fast reflexes allowed Klaus to grab his sister by the wrist before she could reach the other girl. With a fake yawn of boredom he reprimanded, "You two have gotten along all summer and now you're going to get into a catfight over a guy. I hope you realize how petty that is."

"Oh, I had no intention of getting in a fight," Addie quipped back. "I don't give a damn about Stefan's love life. I was simply pointing out that killing my sister wouldn't solve anything. Rebekah's short temper just got the better of her."

Klaus flung the vampire's hand back into her lap and flashed Addie a quick and wicked grin. "That's where you're wrong. The whole point of breaking the curse and becoming a hybrid was to make more hybrids. I haven't been able to do that. Now my bet is, it has something to do with the fact that your sister is still breathing."

She had to hold her hands to keep them from trembling in anxiety but her voice was laidback and disinterested, "You know, you might still want to contact the Original witch before you do something you can't undo, like kill Elena. I mean her blood was the key to breaking _your_ curse. I don't know this Original witch but I do know that witches like to keep a balance. Allowing for a line of essentially invincible hybrids seems to go against screwy supernatural nature. I think _that's_ why you can't make them. But Gloria said every spell has a loophole; I'm taking the liberty to apply that rule to nature. I mean, vampires should burn in the sun but daylight rings prevent that nasty little side effect. Loophole. Elena was supposed to die in the ritual and she technically did. To me, it seems like nature would need a backup plan to stop you from making hybrids if you did succeed in breaking the curse. What if killing Elena was that plan? _You_ might be able to be a hybrid but if she's dead, you can't make more hybrids."

It would be just like the Original witch to cast some kind of spell that would leave him stuck as the only hybrid. She had a particular hatred of him. Addie was right, though. Everything had a loophole. Elena couldn't be the loophole because she was supposed to be dead. But she wasn't. Klaus rubbed at his chin as he thought, "Your sister is alive, though. If killing her was to stop me from making more hybrids, I shouldn't be having a problem making them if she survived the curse breaking."

Addie faltered and ran her hand nervously through her hair. Pulling a random string of words out of her ass didn't seem to be improving the chances of Klaus _not_ killing Elena. He had needed Elena's blood as the last part of his sacrifice. Human blood was needed as the last step in transitioning into a vampire. Elena's blood allowed for the activation of his werewolf side. What if her blood allowed for the activation of vampire traits in a werewolf? Addie let out a long groan at the idea. At the curious look from Klaus she simply shook her head and helplessly said, "I don't know. If she was important to letting you be a hybrid, I just suspect she's important to the hybrid species."

"You make a good point," he admitted. He knew there had been a reason he was so interested in Addie and wanted to learn more about her. "I won't kill Elena-"

"Nik!" Rebekah cried out in protest.

He held up a hand, indicating he wanted his sister to calm down. "I won't kill her until I figure out her role in all of this." From the cup holder Klaus fished out a tiny electronic chip and passed it to Addie. "Time to switch back to your national number."

"Why now?" she questioned, already starting to remove the SIM card from England.

"I need you to track down some people. That will be easier with everyone knowing you're back in town." He could hear the hitch in her breathing and speeding of her heart. "I suggest you cooperate, Addison. Have you not yet learned that there tend to be fewer casualties when things go my way."

* * *

"Come on! Wake up," Addie insisted, repeatedly smacking Stefan's face.

When something cool and wet soaked through the knee of Addie's jeans she jumped to her feet with a squeal. Several times she gagged when she saw that a pool of blood was spreading out around Stefan's abdomen. Rebekah, in a jealous fit, had rammed a crowbar through the vampire. As soon as she made sure Stefan was incapacitated the blonde had headed inside the high school to assist her brother.

Klaus had ordered Addie to track down her sister, Bonnie, and Tyler. Addie didn't exactly talk to Tyler but she had his number and would call him last. It was the night before school started and that meant it was senior prank night for Tyler. There would be no question that he would be at school. She dreaded the idea of Klaus going to fetch Tyler; there would be too many innocent bystanders causing mayhem for the janitors and teachers. Klaus wasn't going to kill Elena until he had contacted the Original witch which bought her some time. Her sister was the safest person to call but she didn't answer. Addie wasn't surprised as she wouldn't have answered Elena's call, either. Bonnie was in the most danger; the hybrid wanted her to do magic Addie wasn't sure Bonnie was even capable of. He would torment the witch until he got what he wanted and if he couldn't get his way, he'd kill her. When she tried to get out of calling her best friend Klaus compelled her to do it.

It was agonizing deciding whether she should keep up the charade where Damon had never helped her learn to resist compulsion and call Bonnie or to finally stand up to Klaus. What was the point of being compulsion-proof if she was just going to do everything her enemy commanded anyway? But if Klaus found out she had been acting every time he had compelled her she highly doubted she would last another heartbeat. It was selfish and cowardly but she had called Bonnie.

Her best friend answered on the first ring and immediately started gushing about how good it was to hear from Addie and how glad she was that the younger girl was back in town. The more she talked the more the guilt mounted in Addie. When she heard Tyler and Caroline saying something about mousetraps in the background the blood drained from her face. They were all in on senior prank night which meant her sister likely was, too.

Abruptly Addie cut Bonnie off and tried to warn her. "Relax, Bonbon!" The nickname was a word to catch her attention and alert her that Addie was going to use the secret code they had made up to discuss Elena right in front of her. She mulled over her word choice carefully. The first letter of every word would spell out the warning. Addie exhaled in a slight relief in noting that Bonnie's quietness meant she understood what was going on. "Kisses, love, and unifying stuff." She gave a short laugh to indicate that she was done with her message. "I get it! I missed you, too. Actually, I missed your _magic_. I kept burning my thumb every time I lit my chocolate scented candle from M &M World. Your _power_ would have been greatly appreciated. Anyways, I have something I need to tell you tonight," she said with a false eagerness.

"Tonight?" Bonnie had replied in disbelief and understanding.

"Yes. It has to be tonight. As soon as Jeremy corners me I'm going to spill this secret and, trust me, it is _not_ something I should be telling my big brother. I need girl talk. Where can we meet?"

Bonnie answered in a horrified whisper, "Addie, I'm at school with everyone!"

"School. Awesome. Stay put and I'll be there in a few minutes," she had chirped brightly as she glowered at Klaus when he nodded his head in approval.

With a "dead" Stefan moved from the semi to the back off the black SUV with Addie, Klaus had peeled off towards the school. Stefan had started to breathe again and gave a soft groan. Before arrogantly stalking into the school Klaus instructed Rebekah to incapacitate Stefan when he came back around then join him inside. He was halfway to the front door before he returned to compel Addie to stay out of the school.

Addie kicked at Stefan's leg, the movement reminding her of the wet, dark stain at her knee. She rushed to the back of the car and was violently ill. Blood made her more than a little squeamish and knowing it was on her was just too much. Returning to Stefan she tried to yank the crowbar out of his stomach. Her hands flew from the metal as if it just came from the forge when there was a loud, moist _squelch_ of internal organs. It took everything in her not to be sick again.

Spying a loose piece of gravel Addie snatched it and dropped to her knees by the vampire's head. The rough rock rubbed back and forth across the thin skin at her wrist. She knew her blood was poisonous to Stefan but what if it could still make him stronger? Damon had gotten better for a little while when he drank from her as he died from the werewolf bite. A curse fell from her lips when she broke through the skin but she continued to scrape at it. A little scratch wasn't going to provide him with enough blood.

When Addie had a steady flow of crimson liquid pouring from her wrist she pressed it against Stefan's lips. Nothing happened so she used her free hand to pull his jaw down and open his mouth. She saw his adam's apple bob as he swallowed. Immediately he began coughing and sputtering and gasping for air as he shoved Addie's arm away from him. After a minute of gagging Stefan ripped the crowbar from his stomach with a pained groan.

"Glad to have you back among the living," she grinned at him. "Well, living dead, at least."

Once he felt the swelling in his throat recede from his vocal chords he demanded, "Any particular reason you're trying to kill me?" Klaus had dragged them back to Mystic Falls and was pissed. This wasn't a time for games.

"I wasn't _trying_ to kill you, idiot. I was trying to bring you back to consciousness. My blood may be lethal to you but that doesn't necessarily mean it can't do what blood is suppose to do for you. I mean, drinking it made Damon stronger," Addie explained with a shrug.

Stefan sat up, having felt his stomach stitch back together. Could have been her blood or it could have been all the human blood he had running through his system. Concerned he questioned, "Damon's been feeding off of you?"

She sneered at the judging note in his voice and eyes. Telling him Damon had only really drank from her twice, both times at her own insistence, seemed like she would be violating some unwritten rule. Details of Damon drinking her blood just felt too personal and intimate to share with his brother. Her brows furrowed as she scolded the vampire, "That's none of your business. That's between me and Damon. Second, we have _much_ bigger issues than your brother at play. I don't know if you've noticed but we're in the school parking lot. It's pretty lame and boring out here. Inside, every idiot is indulging in prank night, including Elena the doppelganger, Bonnie the witch, and Tyler the werewolf. I know Caroline is also there but I don't think Klaus has much planned in using her. Yeah, um, the important part is Rebekah and Klaus being in that building up to _something_. I'm compelled to stay out here leaving you as our only option for a rescue mission. Though, I did give Bonnie a five minute warning that Klaus was coming but I doubt that really gave her the time to cook anything up but-"

"I got it," interrupted Stefan, already on his feet. "Where's Damon in all of this?"

"Probably inside?" Addie wasn't exactly sure where Damon would be after he had his little temper tantrum.

"Call him and make sure he's inside. If he's not, tell him to get down here. I'm gonna need his help."

Addie's lips pursed and she drew out, "Yeah…. I don't think he's in a mood to listen to what I have to say."

"Make him," Stefan snapped before flashing out of sight.

Scowling, Addie pulled out her phone. She hadn't been lying; Damon likely didn't want to talk to her after breaking up with her. A text he couldn't simply ignore or hang up on, though.

 _Addie: Where are you?_

She hadn't sent the message to Damon, though. While it was _senior_ prank night and she and Jeremy would only be juniors, he was still dating Bonnie and was Elena's brother. Addie needed to know that her brother was somewhere far away and safe. Her next stream of messages were for Damon.

* * *

The keys spun around on the ring with a tinkling as Damon made a circular motion with his finger. Chucking them had proven useful in getting Katherine to reveal her diabolic plot. If he hadn't pulled over there was no telling how much further she would have made him drive before admitting to having an unconscious Jeremy in the trunk and how she intended to use the fact that he was seeing ghost to find a way to kill Klaus.

"Don't fall asleep, Jer. You might have a concussion." he warned, walking back towards the teen seated at the picnic table. His head was in his hand looking heavy and his eyes were closed. On the right side of his head was a bloody mess from where he had slammed the kid's head into the table. Trying to make Anna show up and talk made it totally justifiable.

He muttered in response, "Thanks for the concern, dick."

Damon stopped spinning the keys as a familiar ache hit his chest. Addie always called him a dick. Had she picked that up from Jeremy or was it the other way around? He moved his head from side to side, hoping to literally shake out any thoughts of the girl.

"Oh, stop pouting. He took one for the team. Everyone back home will thank you once Klaus is dead," Katherine taunted with a smirk.

Damon gave her a look of disgust as he patted down his pockets. Somehow he didn't think he'd ever come to hate his latest ex-girlfriend like he did his first. With time thinking of Addie may hurt less but he'd never grow to hate her, even if she had picked Klaus over him. He scowled at Katherine and demanded, "Where's my phone?"

"Do you need to check in with Elena? Make sure it's okay you pummeled her little baby bro?" she mocked.

Elena wasn't his concern. Addie said she'd be back before school started, which was the next day. If she wasn't… well, he'd either hunt Klaus to kill him for hurting her or he'd hunt Klaus to drag her ass back to Mystic Falls whether she liked it or not. Jeremy and Elena were still her responsibility; she didn't just get to check out on her family.

"You know you have it."

Katherine shrugged innocently, "What can I say? I needed you present here and now."

He held out his hand to her but she just kept smiling. He barked, "Katherine, phone, _now_." With an overly dramatic sighed she pulled it out and passed it to him. "Addie's been texting me," he mumbled, seeing the notification. More surprisingly, he had missed two calls from her.

"What? Didn't you guys break up?" Jeremy snarled. "I haven't gotten a response from her in like a week but she'll text you? She's telling you to tell me she'd decided to run off with that Europe guy because she knows I'll kill her, isn't she?"

"It's her American number. I'm not sure what she wants," he muttered, scrolling to the top of the list of text. Damon didn't correct Jeremy about Addie not being in Europe for the same reason he never told Elena that he had run into her sister in Chicago. It would just add unnecessary stress to their lives to know that Addie was willingly hanging out with their immortal enemy who had a fondness for killing. "It's a lot of texts."

 _Addie: Where are you?_

 _Addie: Damon, WHERE ARE YOU?_

 _Addie: Damn it, Damon. Stop ignoring me. It's an emergency._

 _Addie: Ok. Cool. I'll just tell Stefan you have no interest in helping him._

 _Addie: Come on! Stop being a dick! Klaus is HERE, in Mystic Falls._

 _Addie: Your ass better be inside the school and helping to save, oh, I don't know, just about EVERYONE, otherwise you have no justifiable excuse for ignoring me and I will kill you._

 _Addie: Look, I know I always told you I never wanted or needed you to be the hero or the good guy. I may have heard that you've been having a lot of people expect that of you lately. I don't blame you for wanting to check out on this._

 _Addie: Damon, I'm not asking you to be the knight in shining armor. I don't care if you come to help EVERYONE. I'm asking you to come help your brother when he stands up to Klaus because you know that he's going to get his ass killed without you. Then you're going to feel guilty about your brother being dead._

 _Addie: Please come. We both know that guilt controls the on/off switch to your humanity. I couldn't bear to see you turn it off._

 _Addie: Damon…._

 _Addie: You know, even though we broke up, I think some part of me still thought you'd be around whenever something serious went down. Foolish, idealistic thoughts of a child, I suppose._

 _Addie: You can't tell me you aren't even the slightest bit interested in taking revenge on Klaus for winning me from you._

She had to be desperate if she had resorted to using that on him. It didn't matter though; he would have answered her instantly if he had know. His fingers yearned to break Katherine's neck for stealing his phone.

"It's Klaus."

"No turning back, Damon," Katherine said sharply, reminding him of why she'd made him drive so far.

"Shut up, Katherine," he snapped curtly. His fingers ran through his hair as he thought of what to do.

"Hey!" she shot back quickly. "Look at the big picture. The best shot at taking out Klaus is by finding Mikael."

He rolled his eyes and turned from her. Finding and waking up a vampire hunter that happened to be a vampire was not going to help him. Addie needed him _now_. He looked down at Jeremy, pressed the keys into his chest and instructed, "Stay with her so Anna can guide you. I'm going back."

Katherine snatched the keys from Jeremy and took a few steps towards Damon, who was already walking away. "You're going to get yourself killed," she called after him. "The Damon I remember wouldn't have been that stupid."

Damon gave her a cold smirk over his shoulder and retorted, "I wouldn't have done it for you."

* * *

Addie rested on the hood of the big black SUV as she watched Klaus exit the hospital. He hadn't told her much about what had happened in the school but from what she had gathered, things could have turned out a lot worse. Bonnie was safe because she somehow managed to contact the original witch. Caroline was safe because she hadn't done anything stupid. Tyler was a hybrid, which Klaus insisted he'd be happy about because he would never have to turn into a werewolf again. Addie wasn't so certain the athlete was cool with being part vampire but he hadn't died like all of Klaus' other attempts so she'd consider it a win. Elena had suffered some serious blood loss when Klaus compelled Stefan to eat her. He hadn't ripped her head off, which Addie supposed was a minor victory. Their only great defeat and casualty was Stefan's humanity; Klaus had ordered him to turn it off. Addie couldn't predict the ramifications about that but she doubted they would be good.

"So I was right about Elena being alive not being the problem," Addie said quietly as Klaus stopped in front of her. Her lips twitched as she teased him, "Aren't you glad I told you _not_ to kill her?"

Klaus hummed noncommittally. "Turns out her blood is the solution."

"How did you know? I mean, did the Original witch just tell you that?" she wondered, questioning if the witches really did work to keep a balance in nature if that was the case.

"Exact opposite," he smirked. "Told me the doppelganger needed to be dead. Given how much the Original witch hated me, I knew that the smart thing to do was the exact opposite of whatever she said."

"What did you do to this witch that she's still screwing with you from beyond the grave a thousand years later?"

He crossed his arms and looked at her arrogantly, "My ability to be an annoying pain in the ass almost rivals yours."

Addie nodded in agreement before casually remarking, "It's a really good thing I'm mortal. Bonnie would seriously screw with me in a thousand years for how obnoxious I've been. Although she wouldn't trap me with some kind of crazy curse."

."Well, it makes sense from the witch's perspective," Klaus admitted. "You were right; Elena's death was her fail-safe in case I ever broke the hybrid curse. The doppelganger had to die in order for me to become a hybrid, but if she was dead-"

"You couldn't use her blood to create some new ultimate super species," Addie finished with a sigh. First witches, then vampires, then werewolves, and now hybrids. At least there wasn't any ghost. If it bleeds, you can kill it. Ghost did _not_ bleed. Of course, Klaus was the exception to the rule of nature because there always had to be one.

He nodded. "Leaving me alone for all time."

Her head tilted curiously as she slipped off the car and stepped closer to Klaus, looking up into his face. "Is that what this is about? Your obsession with hybrids? You just don't want to be alone?" she asked quietly, almost sadly.

Klaus caught her chin and tilted her head back until he made eye contact with her. Her eyes were almost the same shade of blue as the brightly lit night sky. "What I want," he hissed dangerously, "is to take my girl, take my hybrid the hell out of this one-pony town. I already have Rebekah getting the truck."

"About the part where you take my sister, you think we could work something out? Say I supply you with a donation of O doppelganger negative whenever you call and Elena gets to stay here?" Addie suggested with a weak smile.

"The whole reason you've survived this summer, Addison, is because your wise. Do I seem like a man who will fall for that _compromise_?"

She resisted the urged to roll her eyes. "I'm wise enough to know that betraying you would be a death sentence. There's nothing to _fall_ for when I'm being sincere and genuine."

He didn't look away from her but a smile tugged at his lips, "Well, look who finally decided to show up to the party."

Damon growled territorially. He did not like how close Klaus's face was to Addie's or the way he held her chin. If it hadn't been likely that Addie would kill him for stepping in between them, he would have. His snarl lessened when she stepped away from Klaus upon seeing him but the way her face colored was unsettling. Addie was perfectly fine which only left one concern. "Where is she?"

"Elena? Ah, she's making a donation to a greater cause," Klaus replied breezily. Damon made to storm past him and into the hospital but the hybrid stepped directly in his path, pushing a hand against his chest. "I'm afraid I can't let you interfere, mate."

"You'll have to kill me."

"Oh, I would love to kill you," Klaus beamed before frowning, "but I made a pledge to your girlfriend and brother, and unlike them, I keep my word. Although, you know what, thinking about it now, he probably doesn't care that much anymore and my promise to Addie only lasted until she was safely back in Mystic Falls." He slammed Damon against the hood of the car and moved to rip his heart out.

"You don't want to know about your friend Mikael?" choked out the vampire, fighting to push Klaus' hand off of him.

Not caring it was childish, Addie stomped her feet in frustration and yelled, "I want to know about Mikael! I'm sick of being the only one who doesn't know about this Mikael person!"

"What do you know about Mikael?" Klaus interrogated.

"Just that he knows you're here."

Klaus' grip on Damon slackened slightly as he paled. "You're bluffing."

"Katherine and I found him," Damon sneered superiorly. "Consider it our leverage."

The hybrid roared as he tossed Damon against another car. He crumbled to the ground groaning.

"Damon!" Addie cried out in horror, rushing to his side. She dropped next to him and tried to help him sit up and ascess him for injuries but he brushed her off, propping himself up on his own elbows.

"Where'd he go?"

Addie looked over her shoulder for Klaus but couldn't find him. "Elena," she whimpered, clumsily getting back on her feet.

"I'll get Elena," Damon said urgently, grabbing her by the shoulders and gently shaking her to get her focus, "but you have to go home."

"My-"

"Go home, Addie. He won't get Elena. You have to go home right now, understand me?" he said quickly, searching her teary eyes. She nodded and he was in the hospital before she blinked.

* * *

Damon rubbed at his face in exhaustion as he ascended the stairs. Thankfully Klaus hadn't touched Elena and had just taken a couple of pints of blood. It had just been a matter of getting her home. As he tucked her into bed she told him disconnected parts of the night. None of it was really important except Klaus had made his brother flip the switch on his humanity.

When he knew Elena was fine he made to check on Addie, just to be sure she hadn't run off with Klaus again. He'd knocked for a solid ten minutes without a response. More concerned over her welfare than privacy he entered the way he typically did, the window. The room was empty and absolutely nothing had been moved since she'd left for England. With a long stream of colorful words he began calling and texting her, getting no answer. Bonnie nor Caroline had heard from her. He spent an hour speeding through town and the woods looking for her. When Addie was upset she ran. Maybe she had been too anxious about her sister and had just taken off on a run. But he couldn't find her.

Eventually he resigned himself to going home. It didn't look like Klaus was interested in killing her just yet, at least not from what he had walked up on. Tomorrow he would start the process of searching for the bastard again. When he did reach home he had a little encounter with his humanity depraved brother. Klaus had left him with instructions to protect and guard Elena. And he was still a problem drinker. That was going to be a blast. Stefan had insisted that Klaus left Addie behind but Damon wasn't entirely convinced. Klaus could have just ordered Stefan to say that. It did give him a little hope, though, that she had just gone running and he missed her.

He had to bite his tongue to keep himself from having a raging fit when he entered his room. Instead he focused on counting the number of brush strokes as he brushed his teeth in effort to get the last taste of Katherine out of his mouth. He tried to hear every drop of water hit the tiles as he showered. Picking out a pair of boxers had been a three minute task; he'd counted every second. From the second drawer down in his dresser he took another four minutes deciding on the dark grey undershirt. He made a point of ignoring the photo of him and Addie that he had removed from the nightstand and stuck into the drawer that used to be filled with her thing. He went into his closet to change and spent a good five minutes towel drying his hair. Back in his room he turned on the sound machine and the sound of crashing waves filled the space. He opened the thick red curtains to reveal the starry night sky and turned off the light. When he could no longer think of ways to procrastinate Damon sat on the edge of his bed.

"I told you to go home," he admonished, feeling her eyes on him.

Addie sighed tiredly as she pulled Damon's black satin comforter over her shoulder. "Didn't we have a discussion about home and where it was just hours before I left," she recounted, "or did I just dream that?"

Damon winced; she felt like she was at home when she was with him. Things were different though, they couldn't just go back to that. He grimaced, "Things changed. That's not how this works anymore."

"I figured as much but that doesn't change how I feel," she said quietly. She toyed with the hem of his shirt she wore. While she'd taken a couple of his with her and spritzed some of his cologne on them after every wash, they still never smelled perfectly. It was the different laundry detergent that messed it up. Being back in a proper smelling shirt just felt _right_.

He inhaled and exhaled slowly several times, trying to think of the right words. "You're my _ex_ -girlfriend. How you feel is no longer my concern," he lied.

That hit her like a slap to the face. Addie had accepted that Damon had broken up with her but she had believed that would change once they were geographically together again. "You don't mean that," she told herself. "You're angry and hurt and there's just so much of this summer that you don't understand."

"You're right. So, explain it to me. Make me understand," he hissed through gritted teeth.

She laughed bitterly. "You know, if you so obviously didn't care about understanding I would. You're just looking to start a fight. I'm… it's been a long time, Damon. I _can't_ fight with you now. It's taking everything for me to not break down into a blubbering mess as it is," she admitted. Addie cleared her throat with new resolution and faked strength. "You don't care about my reasonings and explanations. I'm not your girlfriend so I don't see any reason why I should have to explain myself to you. We could simply go along never discussing this summer."

"A lot has happened this summer."

"Oh, I know. Do _you_ want to tell me everything you've been up to this summer?" He didn't answer. "That's what I thought."

Damon pinched the bridge of his nose as he felt the headache only associated with her start. Warily he questioned, "What do you want, Addie? You don't want to talk. You know we're not together. But you're still here."

"Aren't you sick of sleeping alone?" she asked lightly.

His throaty chuckle was cold. "It's quite presumptuous of you to assume that I have been."

"True," Addie conceded after a moment. She hadn't considered Damon being with someone else and it made her feel ill. "Though, having a girl in your bed would have shut down your flirting with Elena so it's not too far of a leap for me to guess that you haven't had one. Am I wrong?"

"You're insane if you think I haven't been with another girl because I wanted to keep flirting with your sister."

"Then why haven't you?"

The throbbing behind his eyes started. Damon wasn't just going to tell her that it was because he was still so fucking in love with her that he didn't even notice anyone else. "Well, I gave Katherine a chance but it turns out she just doesn't do it for me anymore."

"Can't imagine why not," Addie muttered bitterly. Something burned painfully in her chest at the news.

"Jealous?"

"That depends. It _is_ Katherine and she has been known to throw herself at you since you've become all dark and cranky. Did she kiss you or did you kiss her?"

"A bit of both," Damon determined, thinking back to kissing Katherine as he drove with an unconscious Jeremy in the trunk.

She gagged dramatically. "Consider me a bit jealous then. At least I'm jealous over something that actually happened as opposed to some delusion of what you think happened."

Damon's grip on the edge of the bed tightened. Addie had picked Klaus over him. They were in a very compromising position when he had shown up at the hospital. He didn't think she'd ever actually done anything with the Original but he was getting close to her. That was just one of the many reasons he needed Mikael to kill the bastard. Annoyed he grumbled, "I'm not discussing him with you."

"Good," Addie declared as she sat up, "because I have no intention of that either."

"What are your intentions?" he demanded as he became more and more impatient with her.

"I want to sleep," she answered as she crawled to kneel behind Damon. The heels of her palms pressed into the small of the back and moved up over the brawny expansion. Her fingers digged into the tense muscles at his shoulders.

Closing his eyes Damon inhaled sharply and stressed, "Addie."

"Damon," she drawled out as her lips skimmed the column of his neck.

Her hands ran along his sculpted biceps as his earlobe slipped between her lips. She smirked as he stifled a groan. Her fingertips slid under the front of his shirt, tickling over the taut abs. Hot kisses left a path of fire along his throat. He bit his lip as he felt her begin to nibble at his neck.

"Addie," he groaned as stern as he could when her nails scraped lightly along his stomach.

She hummed in response, pleased at the way he unconsciously tilted his head so she had better access to his neck. His words were pushing her away but his body responded to her touch even more readily than before.

"This isn't sleeping," Damon muttered. He couldn't resist leaning back into her when her hands, no longer exploring his chest, encouraged him too. Softness, heat and the scent of cucumber melon assaulted his senses.

"Gold star for outstanding observation skills, Mr. Salvatore," snickered Addie. Leaving one hand over his racing heart she used the other to move his head, allowing her to attack the other side of his neck. She felt him sink into her touch as she played with the silky, raven locks. "It's a prelude."

"Do you recall the fact that we're broken up?"

The was a cold sting to her voice as she retorted, "Of course I recall that. Since when did teasing you become linked to dating you?"

He shivered as she blew a gentle stream of cool air over the scorching, damp trail she'd made. And, damn, was she teasing him. Addie knew what his heart raced in anticipation for and it was not the light, gentle caresses. He groaned and they both knew it was in frustration and not at the sensations. If she wanted something from him she knew how to get it but that wasn't what she was doing. There was no rationale in his mind for her behavior. That meant she was running on her own warped sense of logic and he didn't have the energy to try and figure that out.

"Since I dated you. Casual encounters aren't your style, which is what this would be since we are most definitely not together," he explained through gritted teeth while he tried to keep his breathing even as the little nips became harder.

"See, you've made them my style. Damon Salvatore is synonymous with casual encounters. I've found that you've been quite impressionable on me for better and worse. While our relationship may have had depth, your history and your encouragement to have flings in Europe suggests that more informal encounters are perfectly acceptable."

Damon growled quietly as he gently but commandingly tugged at the back of her hair to get her off his neck and turned to look her in the eye. She blinked at him several times and he knew. "You're lying," he proclaimed. "I don't know what game you're playing, Addison, but I'm not indulging you. It's been a long day. Go home. Go to bed. You start school tomorrow."

She rolled her eyes at him and snorted, "Since when do you care if it's a school night?"

"Since you've become just another thing that I care about and not something I'm passionate about," he retorted.

"If you're gonna lie you need to make sure your voice doesn't get higher," Addie informed him, sounding detached and bored.

"Ok, you know what? I'm too tired for this," he snapped, putting a little distance between them as he sat against his headboard. "Let's not be _us_ for five minutes. Let's cut the games and subtlety and communicate like two normal people. Can you do that?"

She frowned at him. "I think we both know neither one of use is normal and to fake it would be a lie. Not to mention, in case you haven't noticed, we're not very good at communicating with each other or the rest of the world."

"Humor me. Why are you here? Why are you teasing me? What do you want? What are you expecting of me? You know you are the only one who can get away with this shit? Ignoring an order and then frustrating the hell out of me would have gotten anyone else killed," he vented.

Addie's lips twitched slightly; there was still hope. He still cared about her. Anxiously she ran a hand through her hair as she looked up at the ceiling, hoping it would tell her how to ask for what she wanted.

Damon scowled as the moonlight bounced off her throat. He'd noticed the discoloration when he first saw her with Klaus and when he got home but he was too furious to address it both times. "I promise you I'm going to kill him for this," whispered Damon, his fingertips grazing the light bruise on her arm. He barely touched the dark purple bruising of hand on her throat, afraid to hurt her. "For that I'm going to make sure it's very painful."

"Caroline called. Klaus was supposed to be in a building but he wasn't. He heard me discussing Elena. As punishment for not telling him she was alive, he kept snapping Stefan's neck at almost every rest area between here and Chicago. While stopped he also took the opportunity to make me black out," she quietly explained.

"He never should have laid a hand on you," Damon seethed.

"This was the first time."

"Still."

She shifted uncomfortably, looking anywhere but his face. "He offered to heal me but I didn't exactly trust him not to try turning me."

Damon pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head as the pieces started to come together. Addie had teased him in hopes that he would do it back. After he did very obvious signs of their encounter would linger until she drank a bit of his blood. "Did it ever occur to you to simply ask like a normal person?" he uttered.

"Yeah and you'd tell a normal person no and that they deserved whatever they got for being too close to Klaus," she answered curtly.

"You're not just any other person, Ads. Even if you did deserve what he did, which you didn't, I could never leave you in pain," he reassured her as he dug a nail into the pad of his finger. Her tongue flicked out and swiped the bright red bubble of blood off when he held his hand out to her. His lip tugged awkwardly as he instructed, "Suck. That's way worse than my love bites. You need more than a drop." The familiar tingle of hunger hummed through him as he watched her drink his blood. Damon pushed back the feeling, knowing it was only a thirst for _her_ blood. He pulled his finger from her mouth with a _pop_ when the bruise was healed.

"Thank you," she said, color flooding her cheeks.

He nodded. "Anything else I can do for you?"

Addie opened and closed her mouth several times as she struggled to find the right words. Damon wasn't the only prideful one. They weren't dating so things couldn't just go back to being easy. Never had she needed to ask about spending the night with him and she didn't plan to start. She stared at her hands in her lap and muttered, "Do you think it's possible for Elena and me to hate each other more than when I left?"

"That depends on whether or not you two are being reasonable and rational," Damon answered with careful consideration. "I think that if you truly hated Elena, you would have told Klaus about her being alive long ago. And Elena didn't really hate you; she was just jealous of you. Of _us_."

"Then she had the first part of summer to flirt with my boyfriend and the second part you were both unattached and…," she hesitated, "I'd rather not know what you two did. Though, I can't understand why she'd be jealous anymore. Klaus stole Stefan, basically breaking them up. Klaus drove you to break up with me. We're both single because of Klaus; she can't be upset with me and saying Stefan saved you so you could be with me or be angry that I got the happy ending because none of it is true or even makes sense. Plus, she's spent all summer with you so I'm guessing she's realized that being with you isn't something to be jealous of."

"Thanks," Damon bit back sarcastically. "I totally feel the appreciation."

Addie shrugged and raised her hands defensively. "It's not my fault you're a pain in the ass."

"Do you really think that?" he asked seriously.

"There are few certainties in life but that you are a pain is definitely one of them."

He turned to look out at the night sky instead of at her. Sadly he surmised, "You weren't happy together."

She rolled her eyes and exaggeratedly said, "No, I wasn't which _totally_ explains why I've been so fucking miserable and have felt like shit since you dumped me." More quietly she confessed, "I don't recall a happier time than when I was with you."

"Happiness is something to be jealous of."

"Damon, most people don't like you because you're such a dick. Being with a dick is not something to be jealous of. I was happy with you because I enjoy dealing with your dickish tendencies. Normal people would not be happy about that," Addie explained slowly, talking to him as if he were a small child trying to grasp a large concept. "If Elena was truly jealous of me having _you_ , she wouldn't be trying to change you. At least I've been told that's what she's doing."

Damon didn't deny it; he had accused her of trying to make him like Stefan. "Fine. She wasn't jealous over me. She was jealous over what _we_ had with each other. She didn't have that with Stefan anymore."

"Not that I'm an expert but I always thought what we had was better than their relationship," she commented.

He laughed. "Yeah, well, it turns out that a relationship is better when only two people are involved," he determined as he affectionately tugged at her blue hair. The first time Addie dyed her hair it was because Katherine had ordered her to. While he had liked the reddish purple he appreciated her new look more. _Addie_ had decided to stay original, to not mind standing out or care about breaking a social norm. The blue was all her.

"You know, I'm pretty sure Katherine wasn't a kinky third in their relationship," she rebuttaled.

"Literal, always so literal," Damon muttered with a smirk. He wrapped an arm around her waist and moved her closer to as he draped her legs across his lap. The bright yellow smiley faces that covered her shorts surprised him. She'd gone through his underwear to find his lucky boxers. When they were dating he eventually conceded into putting them away in her drawer, the second drawer, after washing them. She always wound up sleeping in the first pair of boxers he'd let her borrow before he got the chance to wear them. Addie probably would have preferred to sign a deed over the boxers than the deed to the boarding house. By habit his hand ran down the smooth skin of her thigh and back up to the bottom of his boxers. "A relationship is better when two people are exclusively interested in each other," he amended. "Our relationship was you and me, not you, your feelings for Stefan, and me."

Addie nodded in realization, "Right. Theirs was always Elena, Stefan, and you."

"Hey, once I realized I had a chance with you it was Elena, Stefan, and her feelings for me. I removed myself from that equation," defended Damon. "You would not have been stupid enough to even give me the time of day if I was interested in your sister."

"I saved you from being burnt alive despite knowing you wanted Elena," she reminded him.

He snorted, "Bad example. You let me end up in that basement because I wanted your sister."

"Nooooo. I let John throw you down there because you were… not a good guy." She hated calling him bad.

He remembered the night they met and how he almost strangled her with a smirk. "So, we've both tried to kill each other only to let each other survive." Her head bobbed in agreement. "I'm gonna say we're stuck with each other because I know I can't kill you now and I strongly doubt you'd kill me without reason."

"There's still hope. I'm not ruling out the possibility of you giving me a reason to kill you."

"Now that's not fair," he whined. "What you think of as _reasonable cause_ not only varies from day to day but is usually only reasonable to you." That reminded him of her original question. "Do _you_ hate Elena more than before?"

Her eyes narrowed at him in a challenge. "If you disagree with my reason I always have the backup reason of you being a self-proclaimed serial killer."

"I'm like a reformed serial killer. Do you know how long it's been since I've murder somebody?" Damon pointed out defensively. She opened her mouth but he quickly interrupted, "Excluding anyone I've killed in the effort to protect you or your sister."

"Yes. The night that-"

He put up a hand to stop her. Rose remained a touchy topic. Damon didn't exactly feel like he cheated on Addie when he slept with her as they weren't exclusive. There hadn't even been a discussion of what they were to each other. Just because they acted like they were dating it didn't mean they actually were. Addie had agreed with his point of view until Elena and Bonnie talked to her. That had led to her not talking to him for three weeks and more sex with Rose.

"You get my point. I _easily_ could have killed Bill Forbes for threatening to out me."

"So? There's no statute of limitation on murder."

He'd never get away from that but he knew Addie didn't judge him for it. Damon sighed, dropping his head to her shoulder. "So, there's something even more bizarre than me _not_ killing Bill Forbes."

"Oh?" she acknowledged, running her fingers through his hair.

"Like you, he can't be compelled. Though, I highly doubt he's like you with vampy sense. His blood is bitter and he mentioned something about how the brain is a powerful tool and can be trained. Did you ever get answers about you from Klaus?" Damon sneered, recalling she claimed she wanted to stay with Klaus to get answers.

"He knows more than he would tell me. I don't really want to discuss it. It just makes me worry about Jeremy," Addie muttered distractedly. She ran the length of his hair through her fingers. "Your hair got longer."

Damon lifted his head and looked at her curiously. "What's wrong with Jeremy?"

"He's fine for now. I don't want to discuss it, Damon. It gives me anxiety," she insisted firmly.

"Ok," he conceded, shivering when her hands brushed against his face as she pushed both hands through his dark locks. His hair had a bit of a curl to it as he hadn't bothered to style it after showering. He never let it get as long as it had in 1864; it had too much wave to it and became a hassle at that point.

"It got a lot longer. You need a haircut." He shook his head between her hands. "You look more attractive with it shorter. Nothing major, just a little trim."

He raised an interested eyebrow before putting on a mask of neutrality. "The good thing about being single is not having to worry about how attractive you are."

Addie's brow furrowed in confusion as she continued to play with his hair. "I thought half the point of dating someone was not having to worry about if people find you attractive because you already know someone does."

"Well, yeah, but if we were dating I would feel like I _have_ to get a haircut because I know I can be more attractive to you. In dating you have to make sure you stay attractive to someone."

"I totally did that dating thing wrong then. I didn't give a damn about what you thought when I colored my hair or pierced my tongue," Addie confessed with a small shake of her head.

Damon gave her a knowing grin and suggestively questioned, "You didn't think about how I would react to a tongue piercing?"

"It only crossed my mind when someone brought it up. Thought about it for a fraction of a second before deciding that you would either like it or you'd have to get over it if you wanted to keep kissing me." She stuck her tongue at him and made sure to angle it so he could see the happy yellow bunny and the words 'you suck' at the top of the piercing.

He snorted. The irony was probably lost to his innocent Ads. "How much does that hurt?"

"When I got it? Worse than when I broke my arm. Now? It doesn't hurt at all."

"And have you learned how to use it?" Damon grinned suggestively.

"Well, I've learned how to not bite my tongue." He snickered and shook his head. She gave a warning tug to the silky hair her hand buried in. "Don't be a dick."

Without thinking he closed the few inches between them, softly kissing her. He grimaced when he felt her hand in the center of his chest. Damon pulled away slowly, murmuring, "Sorry."

Addie leaned away from Damon, her lips pursed. She moved her hand from over his heart before the quick beat mesmerized her. Her stomach twisted uncomfortably and she ran a hand through her own hair. " _You_ broke up with me," she reminded him quietly. "You have to accept the distance that comes with that."

Damon nodded and exhaled slowly. He leaned back against the headboard and mimicked her nervous tick. She had lied to him about traveling Europe. She had put herself in danger by being with Klaus and Stefan, even if he couldn't eat her he was still off the rails. She had chosen to stay with Klaus. She picked Klaus over him. That was why he broke up with her; he had to remember his reasons. He sighed, "I know. It's late; I should take you home."

"That's why I asked about Elena," Addie replied quickly. She didn't want to go home; she just wanted Damon. Though she wasn't desperate and he would have to play by her rules of the breakup if that's what he wanted. "Do you think Elena and I could be worse than before?"

"The fact that you ask that makes me say yes. Why do you want to know?"

"You're gonna be pissed," she whispered.

He laughed humorlessly. "You seem to forget that I'm already pissed at you."

She studied him critically and demanded, "Since when do you treat people you're pissed off at so nicely?"

"I wasn't very nice when you first showed up."

"I'm still breathing, have faced no harm, you haven't even threatened me. In fact, you healed me. What's with the nice act?" she asked suspiciously.

Damon shrugged. "I'm pissed at you. That's just it, though. Nothing else has changed. I'm still madly in love with you."

Adde's lips pinched as she said slowly, "I'm confused."

"I'm too angry to be with you, no matter how much I love you. If we were together we would just fight and I don't mean like we usually do. We wouldn't be bickering; we'd be screaming and yelling and actually fighting. We'd go from love to hate faster than going from zero to sixty. I don't want to fight with you. Your friendship is too important for me to lose it like that. And that's why I'm nice to you. I still care about you and want you in my life. I'm still going to be here for you. So, lay it on me. I bet you didn't do anything to make me more upset," he challenged her with an encouraging smile.

She inhaled sharply and talked to her hands in her lap, "I may or may not be responsible for Klaus figuring out how to make his hybrids."

"What?" he asked dryly.

"Klaus found out Elena was alive and planned to kill her. I opened my mouth to reason with him and try to save her. I had to convince him that her being dead wouldn't solve his hybrid problem. Then it got into witches and curses and the balance of nature and how killing her was a trap and a way to keep everything in check and I don't know. You know I pull 90% of what I say out of my ass!" Her eyes were wide, pleading, and brimming with tears.

"Doesn't sound like you told him that Elena's blood was the key to making hybrids."

A small whimpering moan issued from her throat as she curled in on herself. "I didn't flat out tell him that but I thought that. If I thought it, it's not such a leap to assume that Klaus had the same idea. I should have gotten him to stay focused on finding the talisman to contact the Original witch. Get this; it's the necklace Stefan gave Elena. _Katherine_ took it when she fooled Bonnie into thinking she was Elena. Lord knows what she wants with it but I don't see how Klaus chasing after Katherine would be a problem. She's out run him for 500 years; if she could just keep doing it for another 80 years we'd have no problems! No Klaus. No Katherine. We'd have a drama free life. Stefan would have his humanity! I should know better than to try and reason with someone above my level. You always trip me up in my logic; Klaus has 850 years on you. I was no match for him. I led him right to Elena!" she rushed out, hardly breathing.

Damon raked a hand over his face. He couldn't directly blame her but she really should have gotten Klaus to focus on the necklace. If she didn't have to use reason and logic for everything Klaus may never have thought of Elena's blood. "There's no proof you gave him the idea," he muttered. "You might not have done the smartest thing but it's not your fault."

"You think my sister is going to see it that way?"

"Nope," he drawled out, popping the 'puh' sound.

Addie nodded. "That's what I thought. I'm afraid to face her."

He brushed away three tears and comforted, "She doesn't know what you did, Ads. There's nothing to fear."

"Yeah, no, you're right. Nothing to fear but my subconscious until I spill the beans or _Stefan_ tells her. Imagine that nightmare."

"Well, technically, this is your house. Your room down the hall is still set up," Damon offered indirectly. "But there is a vampire with a drinking problem living here."

"I've always managed to overlook your little habit," Addie said with a watery smile.

"Ha ha. I mean the bloodaholic with no humanity."

"Stefan and I get along."

Damon shook his head and searched for the right words. "With no humanity, it doesn't matter if you get along or not. If you're a buzzkill, if you're annoying, if you so much as look at him wrong you're dead. Or, you know, he might just get bored and kill you for no reason. You're more than welcome to stay here but I'm not going to trust Stefan alone with you. Even at night."

She planted a firm kiss on his cheek and hugged him. "Thank you, Damon. Thank you so much," Addie said as she laid back down on her side of the bed. A small step made in her goal to get what she had really gone over for.

"You're welcome, love."

Addie bit nervously at her lip as she watched Damon get comfortable. When he finally settled on his back she asked, "How far does you being pissed off at me reach?"

"What do you want?" he sighed wearily.

"You never answered if you were tired of sleeping alone," she whispered with a flush.

He removed his from under his head and stretched his arm out to her. "Come on."

Addie was quick to curl up against his side, her head resting on his shoulder. Immediately everything but her and Damon ceased to exist. This was what she had wanted. Sleeping with him was the single thing she missed every night for over three months. It was almost as good as she remembered. "When did you start sleeping in a shirt?"

Damon smirked to himself but forced a groan. "Move," he grumbled, wiggling his shoulder. She moved away to give him just enough room to pull off the undershirt. "Better?" he snicked, pulling her close to him.

"Perfect," she purred, loving the feel of him lightly rubbing her back. Her hand skimmed over the firm muscles of his abs, finally resting over his heart. After a couple of minutes it resumed wandering over his chest and stomach.

"Addison," he muttered sharply. She tiredly hummed in response. His voice softened as he understood she wasn't doing it consciously, "Stop moving."

"Sorry," she murmured as she draped a leg over one of his and rolled further into him.

He kissed her forehead and quietly told her, "I love you, Ads." Her hand pressed harder against his chest. That was good enough; he hadn't expected her to say anything and it was a step up from her tensing every time he said the three words. Not for the first time he wondered if he would ever convince her to believe in love. He supposed being broken up wasn't the way to do that but she'd hurt him. He was not as mad at her as he was hurt. She needed to explain more about her summer and how that all went down before he would start to get over it. In his opinion, it didn't fall to him to ask for an explanation.

Damon glanced at the clock. He had been hoping for one thing since she had told him she wouldn't be back until school started. His wish had come true. It would be a little awkward now that they weren't together but he was still going to do it. For the first time in a long time he felt excited.

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you so much everyone for all your follows, favorites and comments!**


	7. Chapter 6

A sleepy smile tugged at Damon's lips as he inhaled the scent of cucumber melon. He stifled a satisfied moan as his arm tugged the soft, hot body it wrapped around flush to his chest. Waking with Addie in his arms was glorious and he'd missed it. That was the first night since she left that he slept through. His neck popped as he turned it to look at the clock. There was two hours before she had to be in class. It left him with enough time to make her breakfast but discarded the idea; that was what he did when they dated.

The bloodlust surged forward and Damon felt his fangs descend as he watched Addie, specifically the way her pulse point thumped against her skin at the base of her exposed throat. Again the scent of her shampoo filled his nose as he buried his face in her hair. He'd only had her blood twice. The first time had been due to her encouragement and giving into the lust; he'd taken more than he should have and she never tried to stop him. The second time he had been dying from the werewolf bite and she'd prefered sharing her blood over leaving him to fetch a blood bag. In his entire life he had never had anything as addicting and intoxicating as Addie's blood. It had been hard to never ask her for it and to only wait until she offered. Summer had been a nightmare as the memory of her warm, sweet blood flowing into his mouth tormented him. Now that she was in reach he had to resist every impulse to drink from her.

Addie gave a soft whimper and he did as he had every time that night. Holding her tighter he kissed her temple and comforted her with quiet hushing. It was odd; in all the time they had shared a bed he had never known her to suffer from nightmares. He prayed it was just an unusual occurrence and not due to any of the horrific sights she may have witnessed with Klaus. She quieted and moved closer to him.

Damon had almost drifted back to sleep when he noticed his room was quiet. There should have been the sound of crashing waves to keep Stefan from overhearing anything. Realizing his brother had turned it off he growled quietly. No humanity meant no boundaries. He was still going to kick his little brother's ass. Just because Stefan didn't feel didn't mean he couldn't learn to avoid pain and learn to equate pain with pissing Damon off.

Further anger flared in him as he really listened and heard Stefan and a feminine giggle. Why couldn't he just screw a girl, feed, then send her back to where she came from? Instead the girl always wound up a bloody corpse. They were downstairs. Damon swore silently. He was not going to subject his squeamish girlfriend to his brother's games. Ex-girlfriend, not girlfriend.

Careful not to wake Addie he slowly moved from the bed. Silently he picked out a pair of dark jeans from his dresser and pulled them on. He grabbed the small rectangle wrapped in blue paper and pocketed it. He slipped out the room.

At the sound of the door closing Addie sat up. She had spent too many nights away from Damon and felt when he had left the bed. Addie brushed it off as if him going to the bathroom but became curious when he left the room. She followed him.

Damon scowled in distaste as he stepped over two dead, bloody coeds at the bottom of the stairs. Those would have to go right after he dealt with Stefan. Considering that seeing Bonnie and her parents lifeless had highly disturbed Addie and she had an intense fear of all things related to death Damon doubted she would react well upon finding them.

The sounds of laughter led him to the livingroom where Stefan had three more girls. Damon pursed his lips as he wondered to how long his brother could go without drawing attention. Abducting five students a day wouldn't go unnoticed for long, especially when none of them returned. At least he knew how to put his toys away after a few drinks.

Stefan was casually reclined in the sofa holding a piece of thin cardboard with a spinner. At his feet on a bloody twister mat the three girls played. "Uh oh! Alexanderia," he cooed, reaching out to her, "left hand, please." One of the girls placed her own hand in his. The vampire pulled her to him and snapped down on the inside of the girl's wrist, drinking deeply.

"Hey," Damon interrupted, jerking a thumb over his shoulder, "the two brunettes on the staircase owe me a Persian rug."

"You mean, they owe us a Persian rug," Stefan corrected as he casually wiped the blood around his mouth with the back of his hand. "Ooh! Would you like a spin?" he offered, holding the cardboard up.

Predatorily Damon stalked from the threshold and into the livingroom. He demanded in a threatening tone, "Why were you in my room?"

"Had to drop off a gift," his brother shrugged. As an afterthought Stefan added, "And I need to turn off that damn noise. You know, if you listen hard enough from anywhere in this house, that's all you can hear. Very annoying."

"That's the point," Damon remarked coldly.

Stefan held his arms open in an inviting gesture and crooned, "Aww. Why? We're brothers! We don't have any secrets."

"You enter my room again and I'll kill you. You enter my room again when Addie is in there and I'll make sure I take my time doing it."

Stefan laughed, "Empty threat, brother. Don't make promises you can't keep. Speaking of Addie, are you two back together? Have you gotten over yourself? That poor girl has been a wreck since that night in Chicago. You should have seen the way she cried. Again, it's all very annoying.

In a heartbeat Damon had Stefan pinned to the couch by his throat, crushing his brother's windpipe as he clawed at Damon's hand. "I am still stronger than you, brother," he snarled, teeth bared in hostility. "Over 145 years of human blood beats your last few months. You so much as think of touching Addie and I will make you pay."

When the doorbell rang Damon let go of Stefan to answer the door but slowed when a head of dark blue hair was already opening it. A blonde girl loaded with shopping bags stood on the other side looking highly annoyed. Damon had no idea who she was but when she tried to step over the threshold and couldn't he was instantly behind Addie a protective arm around her waist as he tried to move her away from the door. Belatedly he realized how pointless his effort was as the vampire couldn't just reach in and hurt her.

"He left me here. My brother actually left me here," the girl huffed in disbelief and she gave Addie an expectant stare.

"I'm sorry. Your tone implies that I'm actually supposed to care," Stefan called from the livingroom.

"He is a prick without his humanity," Addie said apologetically. "Come on in."

Damon spun Addie to face him, keeping an arm around her waist in case he needed to quickly move her out of harm's way. In disbelief and horror he scoffed, "You're inviting Klaus's sister in? Have you lost your mind? The whole purpose of the deed was to keep vampires _out._ First his brother, now his sister. It's just a matter of time before you invite him in, isn't it?"

"And you're a dick with your humanity," Addie told him in a falsely sweet voice. She broke away from his hold and followed Rebekah to where she had entered the living room. "I'd apologize for both of them but I would be spending the rest of my life doing that if I did it for every little thing they did so I'm just going to give you a blanket apology now and ask that you excuse both their crazy behavior. They aren't the most rational of people." Her lips pinched as she noticed the Original eying her Damon."Rebekah, this is Damon. Damon, Rebekah," Addie quickly introduced, her hand waving back and forth between the two.

"Your camera must be broken," the other girl smirked. "It definitely does not do him justice."

Unexpectedly she was suddenly very annoyed with Rebekah. Damon did make a gorgeous sight with his tousled bed head, slightly defined abs, and biceps that flexed as he crossed his arms. He looked cool and detached but Addie could tell that he was a coil ready to spring if Rebekah got to close to her. With a sharp exhale she snapped her fingers in front of the blonde, breaking her concentration on Damon. Almost threateningly Addie told her, "Don't sleep with him. And don't stare; it further inflates his enormous ego."

Rebekah looked at her curiously, her eyes flickering back to Damon. "Is he single or was you two breaking up another lie," she questioned sharply.

"We broke up. His into my sister; I wouldn't recommend trying to get in between that."

Damon scowled as he debated correcting Addie on where his interest was and warning the blonde to stay the hell away from her and himself. No, he was still too pissed at Addie for inviting another Original into the house to trust what exactly would come out of his mouth.

"Noted," Rebekah remarked, her attention focusing on Stefan. "Which one's my room?"

"You're not staying here," he answered with a bored drawl as he flicked the Twister spinner.

Rebekah looked expectantly at Damon but he didn't say anything. "Rude. Both of you," she huffed.

Addie briefly considered how much of a conflict with Damon her next words would cause before remembering that they weren't together and it didn't really matter. "I'm gonna employ the technicality card of the deed being in my name. Upstairs, first door on the right."

Stefan shrugged at Damon and remarked in the same bored voice, "So I guess she's staying here."

Damon didn't respond as he watched Rebekah march up the stairs. When he was sure she was at the top he moved to the living and took Addie's hand. Meeting no resistance he led her to the front porch. .

"Of all the mornings to not put a shirt on you pick this one," Addie muttered bitterly as she watched him close the door.

Gingerly he pinched her chin between his thumb and forefinger, angling her face upwards so he could study her. She showed no emotion, no signs of distress. The lively eyes he remembered were lifeless. That hit him harder than having seen her upset over the dead bodies would have. He meant to ask what happened to her but it came out as, "What's wrong with you?"

"You want an itemized list or should I just point out how ridiculous it is for you having dragged me out here to play twenty questions when we have a new guest?"

Glowering Damon sneered, "I'll get to the whole inviting a lunatic Original to stay in a minute. I can only assume it has to do with whatever your entire problem is."

"I don't have a problem," she insisted taking a step back from him.

"You can't lie to me, Ads. What's up? Did you totally miss the bloody bodies at the bottom of the stairs? For someone squeamish at the sight of blood and who has such a strong aversion to dead bodies that she skipped her own parents' funeral, I think they would be kind of hard to miss. I expect you to be more reactive to corpses littering the house," he said curtly. Being rude wasn't his intention but he was concerned about her and she didn't seem to care.

Darkly she answered, "That's not even the most impressive handiwork I've seen from your brother. Excuse me if I've become a bit desensitized; it was that or spend the last part of the summer trying to keep down my lunch… and breakfast… and dinner."

Damon had seen some of his brother's more intense kills when he had tracked him. He couldn't imagine what Addie may have had to stomach. A frown tugged at his lips at the way she tensed when he pulled her into a hug. "I'm sorry," he whispered, running his hand over the back of her hair and encouraging her to rest against his shoulder.

Addie inhaled the scent of sandalwood, ginger and cloves and the familiar ache in her chest grew. He was firm, cool and familiar and it hurt because he wasn't hers. She didn't push him away but she didn't return his embrace either. "What exactly are you sorry for?" she challenged.

"For this summer, for whatever you had to deal with regarding Klaus."

"Yeah, well, you're not sorry for what you did in Chicago so I don't really care," Addie retorted as she broke away from him.

Damon frowned at her; he wasn't going to apologize for breaking up with her. It was her choice to stay with Klaus. He rubbed uncomfortably at the back of his neck and asked quietly, "Did you overhear Stefan earlier?"

"You're wondering if he's telling the truth? If I've been miserable since you dumped me? I'm not nor have I been," she snapped.

"Didn't I already say you can't lie to me?"

She swatted Damon's hand away as he brought it up to brush at her cheek. Again she lied, "What difference would that make? None. Stefan's wrong. I'm not upset because of you; I've been miserable because I haven't taken my medication in six weeks. I don't care that you broke up with me because it's not like it's a surprise or unexpected. You told me to go off and have _experiences_ with other guys. I mean, nobody does that unless _A)_ they never cared about you or _B)_ it's a gateway to a break up."

"That wasn't-"

"Excuse me but I have to get ready for school," she interrupted, pushing around him and opening the door.

Damon bit his lip as he followed her inside. While she headed up the stairs he went to the living and sat on the arm of the couch as he watched Stefan feed on one of the girls. Her limp body crumbled to the floor in death and Stefan wiped the corners of his mouth. Damon recalled the bloodlust he had felt in bed but found that he wasn't hungry. The idea of drinking from someone other than Addie wasn't even appealing. He didn't care for indulging his humanity depraved brother but he needed to know, "Are you telling the truth about her being a mess and miserable since we broke up?"

"Yep."

"And Klaus' sister?"

"What about her?" Stefan yawned, flicking at the Twister spinner.

"She gonna hurt Addie?"

"Not likely," his brother answered after a moment of thought. "Klaus trusted Rebekah to keep Addie safe while she was at that program and that turned out well enough. Rebekah has a short fuse and an awful temper but Addie knows how to handle her. Frankly, you should be more concerned about Addie posing a threat to her sister and then me having to kill her."

"Then I'll kill you," Damon growled.

Stefan laughed humorlessly, "Your threat changes nothing, Damon. I'm compelled to protect her. It's not a matter of choice. I don't give a damn about their sibling rivalry and would love to watch a good girl fight."

His lips twitched and he allowed a small smirk at his brother. "Wouldn't be a very good match; Addie would take out Elena in a minute."

"Probably. That just means I'll have to be quick about ripping her throat out."

Damon frowned in thought. It was a matter of time before the Gilbert sisters got into another one of their verbal sparring matches. How much provocation would Stefan need before hurting Addie?

* * *

Damon tugged on a cream colored shirt and pushed the sleeves up to his elbow. He stuck his head into the bathroom as he heard Addie finish brushing her teeth. Watching her he asked, "I know you're pissed at me but do you have an extra ten minutes?"

The toothbrush rattled as she dropped it back into the holder. Addie began to brush her hair and focused on herself in the mirror as she corrected, "I'm not pissed at you, Damon. I'm indifferent."

"Right. Well, do you have a few minutes before you need to leave?"

"For?"

"Does it matter? That's a 'yes' or 'no' question; you either have the time or you don't," he huffed. Addie always had to make things difficult.

She rolled her eyes and went to take her phone off the charger. Her 16th year was starting off pretty crappy in that she woke up in her ex-boyfriend's bed, another vampire moved to town, but at least they were all in the same house which made them easier to monitor, and it was very likely she was going to be late. And she needed to text her brother and ask him to bring a notebook and pen to school for her because she'd been stuck with a lunatic hybrid and wasn't geared for the new year. Addie wasn't sure she was in a mood to deal with Damon.

"It's not a 'yes/no;' it's a 'do i really care enough to waste my time on whatever you want.' If I indulge you, I'm definitely going to be late. If I ignore you and walk pass you just like this," she headed to the door without acknowledging him, "there is a chance I will be on time."

Damon smirked as she swore loudly when he appeared in front of her, blocking the doorway.

"You're a freaking cheat, Damon! That's not fair. How many times do I have to tell you ' _no vampire advantages.'"_

"I believe that rule on applied while we were dating. Since we're not, super speed isn't cheating," he snickered.

"It's really a wonder as to why I missed you," Addie scowled, trying to push past him. He continued to block her. "Damn it, Damon! Move! I'm gonna be late."

He caught her around the waist as she tried to shove him. He spun her and pulled her into him so that her back was against his chest. In her ear he whispered, "It's a five minute drive; you'll be fine."

Her elbows collided with his ribs, making him loosen his hold on her as he focused on the sharp pain. She broke away from him and grumbled, "I don't want you driving me to school."

"Good because I really don't want to," he quipped back. Before she could respond, Damon took her by the hand and started pulling her out of his room.

As Addie twisted her hand, trying to break his hold, she stumbled and tripped over the feet she kept trying to dig into the ground. "Let go!" she whined as he approached the stairs.

"I'll let go if you'll follow me."

"I don't want to follow you!"

"Trust me, you do," he winked at her.

She still fought with him on moving. "I don't! Where are we even going?"

Damon stalled as he reached the bottom of the stairs and insisted, "Follow me. I don't want to drag you along. If I do that you're going to trip over the dead girls."

"Or you could just let go of me and we can go our separate ways," Addie proposed with false hope in her voice.

"You know, I'm always only looking out for your best interest. I wish you would just trust me when I tell you to do something."

Addie scoffed, "I can _totally_ see how that's what you were doing when you dumped me."

"I didn't dump you. You made a choice. Stupid me for thinking that, while you wouldn't leave Klaus despite your personal safety being at risk, you would leave him if it meant the end of our relationship. I mean, obviously I valued the idea of us being together more than you did. And overestimated about how much you cared. Even then getting you _away from Klaus_ was in your best interest! Staying with the unhinged hybrid and my off-the-rails brother was _not_ anywhere in the realm of good ideas," Damon retorted sharply. He was tired of feeling guilty for something he didn't even do. Her choice was what broke them up. If he had been the least bit unreasonable then he could validate the guilt but he hadn't been. It wasn't like he asked her to choose between him and her friends and family.

She exhaled loudly and fought to keep from raising her voice, "That's _so_ not -"

"I am not arguing this with you," he said loud enough to shut her up.

"You can't just-"

"I can do whatever! I asked you for ten minutes; I didn't ask you for a full day because you know we can go round and round all day. For once in your life, Addison, just do as I say and _follow_ ," Damon yelled. He dropped her hand and went to the door, waiting to see if she would listen.

Addie resisted the overwhelming urge to stomp her feet, throw a fit and demand that they discuss their break up until she convinced him that it was all his fault. Damon wouldn't do anything if she had a temper tantrum. Besides, that was something her sister would do. She didn't want to lose the fight that almost was but if Damon had resorted to physically dragging her somewhere then his mind was set and he would do whatever he needed in order to get what he wanted. Reluctantly she went to the door. Following him outside she asked, "Can you at least tell me what this is about?"

"Well, I _could_ but it would hardly be a surprise if I did that," he teased, leading her to the garage.

With a groan Addie stopped in her tracks. "What have you done?" 'Surprise' was word she had become very wary about Damon using. Any time he pair the word with food it meant he had found some crafty way to try and trick her into eating fruits or vegetables. When he said something was a surprise it usually meant he had done something way over the top.

Damon pursed his lips and tilted his head from side to side as he thought. Addie's wariness was understandable. "Well, it seems more than a little awkward now," he confessed. "But it's not anything I can really undo so…." With a shrug he keyed in the code to the garage door opener. He briefly considered doing a dramatic unveiling but reasoned that it wasn't a very good idea when he was concerned about how she would react. The door squealed as it raised.

"Oook," Addie said slowly, moving to stand next to Damon who nervously looked between her and the garage. In the garage was a little red car that she knew was Stefan's, an SUV, a lawnmower and other miscellaneous items that seemed to belong in a garage. Out of the corner of her mouth she whispered, "What am I supposed to be looking at?"

"The Jeep, Addie. The Jeep," Damon replied flatly, rolling his eyes. It was the only thing that was out of place.

"It's in a garage. Wow. Am I supposed to be amazed that you learned how to park?"

"Oh, my god," he muttered. Wasn't it obvious? "Look at the Jeep!"

"I'm looking!"

"What is it?"

She looked at him ridiculously. His game was not amusing. "I think you just established it is a Jeep."

"The features!" he enunciated. "Look at what type of Jeep it is."

Addie moved into the garage to get a better view. It was a new forest green, classic Wrangler Unlimited; the _true_ Jeep look. The hood and boot cover was a black, removable softtop and much more sensible than the bulky hardtop, in Addie's opinion. She tapped at the bumper and appreciatively nodded at it's steel design. The vehicle sat on 18" large black wheels and looked to be lifted a bit more than standard with gas shocks. Curious, Addie laid on the ground and scooted under the hood to find steel skid plates and rock rails to protect all the vital engine parts.

"Where did you find it?" she asked.

Damon rubbed uncomfortably at the back of his neck, having grown very nervous as she critically examined the car. "Found it back in June at a new dealership in Richmond. Is it the right one?" he asked.

"The right -" Addie shook her head and stared at him with wide eyes. "You _did not_ buy me my dream car," she stated because there were no other possibilities. Damon simply did not buy her the Jeep she fantasized about.

"Shit," he muttered, running a hand through his hair. He had only the description she had given him on their first date. Damon thought he had remembered everything but it wasn't something they had extensively discussed so he wasn't certain. "What did I miss?"

"Nothing; you even got the skid plates," she whispered, moving closer to him.

A wave of relief washed over him. He cursed himself for the blush that colored his cheeks; it was just the amazed way she was looking at _him_. Him, not the car. "I know it's a cliche gift but-"

"You can't do this."

"But," he continued, ignoring her, "I don't exactly have much experience with the whole sweet 16 thing. I was gonna go with the massive surprise party and huge blowout but I thought you might kill me for that."

Addie stared at him as he moved past her to open the driver's door. She shook her head again and maintained, "You can't give me this."

"Pretty sure I can," smirked Damon as he tossed her the keys from the front seat.

"No, you can't," she snapped. "Where do I start with the number of reasons why? I mean, for one, I can't even legally drive."

"Don't you have fake ID?" he teased. Simultaneously, he reached into his back pocket and 'pulled out his wallet. He passed a thin plastic card to Addie. "Happy birthday."

"I don't need two fake ones. It doesn't change that I still can't legally drive."

"Yeah, you can. That's legit. It's amazing what a little compulsion can do. Ow!" he cried out in shock when she punched him in the shoulder.

As if they were at risk of getting caught she quietly hissed, "You idiot! That does not make it legal!"

Damon scoffed and rolled his bright blue eyes, "You're kidding, right? We should start a list of all the times you did something illegal this summer. You can't swing from good girl to bad girl to good girl. Pick a side! You know how to drive; so what's the big deal about a little compulsion?"

"I'll swing all over the damn place," she mumbled. There was no sense in pointing out that he apparently had a problem with her being too innocent when she was good and thought she was reckless if she acted any other way. "The ethics of compelling me a license so I can legally drive aside, you can't just give me a car, Damon."

"Why not?"

"Because you don't just give someone a car!"

"You're not just someone, Ads. You're _the_ someone; the someone I care about, the someone I dream about, the someone I love, the someone I want to-" he faltered, unable to honestly complete his thought about wanting to be with her. Damon sighed when she continued to look annoyed and changed his tactic by trying to reason with her. "When we started dating I believe one of the few things that I stipulated was that I'm allowed to give you gifts."

Addie shook her head and hummed, "Nuh-uh. _This_ is not a gift. It's a car."

"You can gift a car."

"No."

"Yes."

"No. Gifts are not $50000 and car shaped."

Damon slightly laughed. He had many girls want him for his money. Of course he would fall for the girl who turned it down and wasn't impressed by it. "We never said how much a gift was worth."

"I gave you cologne for your birthday. You can't give me a car a hundred times more expensive. Not to mention that rule only applied when we were dating."

"I bought the car when we were dating. It's not exactly like I could take it back even if I wanted to, which I don't. I obviously want you to have it. If I have $150,000 to drop on a watch, I have more than enough to spend on the Jeep. I bought the watch because I was bored. Getting your dream car is a much more meaningful purpose. Look, people always say it's not how much something costs and that it's the thought that counts. This is my way of showing you that I actually am listening and taking in everything you say even when you go off on a tangent," he explained as he casually leaned against the side of the car. She opened to mouth to further protest so he quickly added, "We're heading into that time of year where it hails and I'm not exactly a fan of leaving my car as a victim to the elements of nature. No matter what you say or do, this thing is going to be parked in your driveway. You can either make use of it, let it sit and rot, or sell it. I really don't care what you do. It is legally yours; the title is in your name. If you think about it, I'm not really giving you a gift. I'm giving you something that you're going to have to pay car insurance on every month plus the cost of gas. I mean what kind of gift makes a person spend money?"

Addie ran a hand down her face. She knew Damon would keep his word about parking it in her driveway. This was just one of those things she'd have to tolerate from him because he wasn't going to backdown. She couldn't see a reason why she should let her dream car rot or sell it. And it really was the thought that counted; she couldn't believe he remembered down to every last detail. Pocketing the keys in resignation Addie moved to hug him. His arms encircled her in a tight embrace. They were a little too close and it lasted a little too long for it to just be a friendly hug. Her lips turned downwards; she didn't like living in the blurry shade of grey where they both clearly cared for the other as more than a friend but there was no relationship. They had done that before and it hadn't gone well.

"Thank you, Damon," she whispered, standing on her toes to kiss his cheek before pulling away from him.

* * *

A small smile was stuck on Addie's face as she sat in her physics class, waiting for school to start. The Jeep drove so smooth and yet it was so rugged and durable; it handled better than she had ever imagined. Her grin spread so wide that it hurt when she saw her brother walk into the class. It took every bit of self-control that she had to not run over and fling her arms around him.

"Hey! Happy birthday!" Jeremy cried as he practically pulled his little sister from her seat and into a huge hug. "I missed you so much! I was totally convinced that you had run off with that English fellow and I would never see you again. Where were you last night? You weren't at the house when I got back and Elena hadn't seen you either but you were using your regular number when you texted me."

Addie laughed as he dropped his bag and took the seat next to her. Apparently Damon hadn't told him that she spent the summer with Klaus and her texts to him were all a charade. That was going to be a hard one to explain. She'd keep the focus on him for as long as she could. Getting into a fight the first day of school and on her birthday was not what she had planned.

"So you _did_ get my text," she chastised, pointing an accusatory finger at him. Sarcastically she said, "Don't bother to text me back, jerk. Just leave me concerned about where you were for twelve hours." It was a bit of a stretch; someone would have told her if he was in trouble.

"I was with Katherine. Again, where were _you_?" he pressed, a knowing look on his face.

"Back the truck up. You were with Katherine?! Since when is she your new buddy? What is she even doing back here?"

Jeremy laughed as he pulled out the extra spiral he brought for her and a pen. "Relax. Katherine and I aren't cool like that. You remember Anna?"

Her lips pursed as she recalled the vampire who had planned to feed her brother to her desiccated mother. And who had given him the blood he used when he tried to kill and turn himself. "Vaguely," she drawled with distaste.

"Well, her mom knew how to kill Klaus, and not like dagger dead but _dead_ dead. The-"

"And how did she know that?" Addie asked skeptically.

"I don't know. Katherine knew that the only other person Pearl ever told was Anna. Sin-"

"And what good does that do us? Both of them are dead, and not dagger dead but _dead_ dead," she quipped.

While he had missed his sister, he didn't miss the way she always interrupted him. Patiently he continued, "Since Bonnie brought me back to life I've been seeing the… ghost of Anna and Vicki, for a lack of a better term. Th-"

Addie shook her head insistently and said sympathetically, "Jer, that's… it's not possible. Ghost aren't real."

Jeremy bit at his lip as he recalled his sister's unnatural fear of ghost. Werewolves, zombies and vampires didn't freak her out but something about ghost had always left her terrified. There wasn't really a way of gently breaking to her the news that they were real. "I'm sorry, Addie, but it is. I don't know how it works but I've been speaking to them. Anna says she's trapped on 'the other side' in that she can see everything going on in our world but she can't talk to or interact with anyone living or dead. Will you stop looking at me like I'm some pathetic nutcase?" he grumbled.

Her face turned to one of indifference as she apologized, "I'm sorry. Ok, let's just say that you really are talking to the ghosts of your ex-girlfriends. How is Katherine involved?"

"So, when she tricked Bonnie into giving her Elena's necklace she also found out that I've been talking to Anna."

"You told your current girlfriend that you're talking to your dead ex-girlfriend?" Addie groaned, dropping her face into her hands. Muffled she asked, "Do you know nothing about girls?"

"I couldn't keep lying to her," he snapped back defensively. "Anyway, Katherine knocked me out and shoved me into a trunk. She and Damon drove out to the middle of nowhere an-"

"Katherine and _Damon_ kidnapped you?" she growled protectively.

He raised and lowered his hands in a motion to tell her to calm down. "As a credit to Damon, while he did get into a car and drive where Katherine told him with no clue about her intentions, he didn't know I was in the back trunk. He had nothing to do with kidnapping me."

Feeling her cheeks grow hot with anger she scowled, "That's even worse! He just blindly did whatever the hell Katherine told him to? Has he lost his fucking mind? Did he not learn his lesson the first time around?!"

Jeremy rolled his eyes; he would never understand his sister's reasoning or logic. "We'll come back to dealing with your Damon drama. Elena told me you guys broke up and I need to know if I need to kick some ass. But right now, he has nothing to do with the story, other than being there. Well, no, that's not entirely true. Katherine came up with the brilliant idea of blackmailing Anna into telling her how to kill Klaus. To do that, Damon may have bashed my head into the picnic table at a rest stop."

"He did what?!" Addie said loud enough to gain the attention of a few classmates near them.

"Nothing. The important thing is that it worked. Kinda. Anna told me and I told them that the key to killing Klaus would be to wake Mikael, a vampire who is a vampire hunter. He's bound up in chains in some old cemetery. A witch in the 90s put him there. It'd be stupid to wake him but Katherine and Damon are hell bent on that idea. Are you even listening?" Jeremy demanded, seeing his sister's far off expression.

"Yes, a vampire vampire hunter," she muttered. In truth she had only been half listening after he told her who Mikael was. The only way Jeremy could possibly know about the relationship between Klaus and Mikael was if someone had told him. Damon would have proposed Mikael long ago if he had known. Katherine never brought it up which suggested that she never knew. If she knew that the two people who knew how to kill Klaus were dead, Addie doubted there was little Katherine wouldn't do to contact them. But she had only kidnapped Jeremy after she found out he was talking to… ghost. "When you say you talk to Anna you mean like using a Ouija board, right?" she said hopelessly.

He shook his head apologetically and felt his stomach clench in guilt as he watched his sister pale further. Her lips pressed into a hard, thin line. While Addie had a list of issues regarding her brother talking to dead girlfriends her biggest problem was that he was able to talk to the dead and they talked back. If that was true it meant ghost were true. The dead witches sending Bonnie messages via the witchy hotline was one thing. She liked to consider that as the spirit world communicating with her best friend like in the cartoon Avatar; they were their for guiding, helpful advice. Dead things, with the exception of vampires, things without a corporeal body were not supposed to talk to anybody. The dead were meant to stay dead. Ghost of people like Jack the Ripper were _not_ supposed to come back, start serial killing again, and be impervious to death.

"Damon said ghost weren't real," she told Jeremy in a very matter-of-fact voice.

"He also said werewolves and Klaus weren't real," he retorted. "Damon doesn't know everything."

* * *

"Miss Gilbert, a word, please," Alaric called to Addie over the sound of chairs scraping and boisterous children excited that the first day of school had ended.

Addie leaned on one of the desk across from Alaric's while she waited for the class to clear out. Once they were alone she brightly asked, "What can I do for you? And are you still sleeping on my couch?"

He shook his head but grinned. Regardless of his own guilt, he was very happy that Damon had saved Addie's life instead of letting her die on the night he first confronted the vampire and had, in a brief moment of insanity, staked her in the lung because he wanted Damon to hurt the way he had when he lost Isobel. She brought a sense of self-certainty and humor that her siblings didn't. "First off, happy birthday. Secondly, welcome back."

"Thanks. And thirdly…." She cupped a hand around her ear and leaned closer as if to hear him better. "Come on; I know you didn't stop me just for that."

"Damon told me where you really were this last bit of the summer."

"I think he already gave me enough of a lecture, thanks," she spat back sourly. She rolled her eyes and turned towards the door.

"Addie," Alaric said sharply, making her turn around. "He's wrong."

"What?"

"I've only heard Damon's side of the story but I know he's wrong. You never would have stayed with Klaus unless you absolutely had to."

Addie gave him a slight smile before muttering, "Would you mind telling him that?"

He moved around to stand in front of his desk and sighed, "I have. He… I don't know if it's just easier for him to excuse his behavior by saying you picked Klaus over him or if he really believes it or if he was just ending things before you could. I just know I've watched him be a miserable, jealous bastard all summer."

"He doesn't get to use jealousy as an excuse; he's the one who told me to go off and be with other guys, which I didn't even do. The truth is just that he's a dick."

"No. Well, yes, he is. He killed me for remarking on his behavior with your sister and Bill Forbes; I'm not exactly in his cheering corner right now. But I honestly don't believe he would have done it if you were around. Damon doesn't put on a show or an act for you but something about being with you just makes him a slightly better, more rational person. He's been a miserable bastard because he's been missing you more than you'd think."

"Ok. Question, why are we even discussing Damon?" Addie sighed.

"A couple reasons. I've seen how much breaking up with you has hurt him; I know you must be hurting, too. It's going to get better. He's going to come around and accept that his desire to be with you is greater than his pride and jealousy. Also, he wants me to start training you in how to take down a vampire, particularly since you're staying in a house with Rebekah and Stefan." Addie opened her mouth to object but Alaric held up a hand and stopped her. "I think you need to know how to protect yourself from him and his moods. Training you is a good idea; I started teaching your sister this morning. She needs to bulk up before she can do much more but you've done weight training for track I'm pretty sure you're strong enough to pack a punch that will release the wrist stakes. We've transformed my apartment into a makeshift gym, you should check it out."

She rolled her eyes. Of course Alaric was right but that didn't mean she had to like it. All Addie wanted was for her life to go back to normal, or as normal as it could get with a vampire boyfriend because she fully intended on getting Damon back. Adding Vampire 101 to her life would simply be admitting that her life was never going to be normal and that she needed to constantly watch her back for vampires. At least she could kill a vampire if Alaric taught her how. She wasn't exactly sure what she was going to do about the ghosts her brother was seeing.

"Alright," she agreed reluctantly.

"We start with a run at 5:30 so set your alarm."

Addie laughed. "Funny. You seem to think I'm going to get up before seven. I believe my position on the varsity track and cross country team exempt me from your little run. I doubt you'd be able to keep up."

Alaric forced his lips into a frown despite their desire to turn up. He noted, "I think some of Damon's arrogance has rubbed onto you."

"Mmm," she hummed in feigned thought, "does it really count as arrogance if it's true?"

"Training starts at 5:30," he said firmly.

"Maybe Elena's does but mine starts at seven. Or I could simply skip the training altogether," she shrugged dismissively.

It was a miracle that Addie and Damon had lasted as long as they had considering how stubborn they both were. It was that same attribute that had broken them up and it was their prides keeping them from making up. Alaric resigned himself to just accept their relationship as long as Addie was happy and Damon wasn't taking advantage of her. Considering how the vampire had flirted with her sister he remained undecided if he would support them getting back together.

"I expect you in the woods directly behind your house at seven."

Addie gave him a two finger salute and barked, "Yes, sir."

"Dismissed," he nodded before remembering, "Oh, your sister heard it through the rumor mill that you're back. She wants to do a birthday/welcome back dinner with everyone.""

There was a reason she hadn't gone home the previous night and had been avoiding her sister and friends at school. No matter how she reasoned it Addie still felt guilty about Klaus knowing to use Elena's blood. Bonnie knew about her brother chatting up his exes; Addie wasn't exactly sure she could face her without some excuse for what Jeremy was doing. Making time to see Caroline wasn't a high priority on her list as she had no juicy tales about exploring Europe with a foreign guy

"No, not happening. I'm staying at the boarding house. Elena can do whatever she wants but I won't be at that dinner. Speaking of my sister, did Damon tell her where I spent the summer?"

Alaric rubbed at his temple. While he was particularly protective of Addie compared to her siblings, she was the one who caused him the most stress. "I'm the only one Damon told. And you can't stay with a vampire with no humanity and his brother who only has a vague sense of humanity."

"I'm not. I'm staying with a vampire with no humanity and his brother who only has a vague sense of humanity _and_ Barbie Klaus. His sister Rebekah," she explained further at his furrowed brows.

The girl was going to give him an aneurysm. "Addie, you can't do that. It's not safe!"

She sighed heavily as if she were giving in but after a beat of silence she curtly retorted, "You're not my father. You can't tell me what I can and can't do. Seeing as I have no parental units or figures, I really don't have to listen to anyone. I may not be making the safest choice but I can't live with my sister." And she strolled out of the classroom.

* * *

From under the welcome mat Addie took the spare key to Alaric's apartment and unlocked the door before replacing it. The door creaked open as she entered. There was no way she was considering the apartment to be a makeshift gym. The only exercise equipment were dumbbells of various weights and a bench press. And most unfortunately for Addie, her sister was already in the room. She tried not to snicker as she watched Elena raise and lower a dumbbell in a manner that was only going to result in a sore shoulder and no muscle gain.

"Addie!" Elena gasped, dropping the weight.

"Elena!" she mocked.

The older girl stared at her sister, uncertain of what to say. The last conversation they had involved her accusing Addie for Stefan being enslaved to Klaus and Addie saying she just wished Elena would die so everyone she cared about would quit dying because or for her. Addie ignored Elena and went about her business. On each side of the barbell for the bench press was a 10 pound weight. Experimentally she stood lifting the bar. It felt about 65 pounds, making it a standard 45 pound bar. She removed the weights and replaced each 10 lbs with a circular disc weighing 25 pound. Ninety-five pounds was a marginally impressive amount to lift in respect to her age and weight so she never worried about becoming stronger when her track coach made her do weight training. In her opinion, how strong she was didn't affect how fast she was, especially in regards to upper body strength.

"Happy birthday," Elena said awkwardly.

"Thanks," Addie grinned falsely at her before laying down on the bench. "So, did enjoy spending the summer flirting with my boyfriend and later ex-boyfriend?" she asked coldly, starting to raise and lower the bar.

"I didn't-"

Addie cut her off, "Jeremy's sold you out the second it started happening. I wouldn't bother denying it. You could admit to being happy that we broke up when you conveniently lost Stefan. I mean, isn't that exactly what you wanted? To be able to have Damon without having to pick between the two? Well, you _really_ want them both but you don't wanna be a Katherine."

"I am not-"

"I've gathered all this from your diary. You're gonna tell me that you lie to your diary?"

Elena rattled her brain for a truth and eventually said, "I'm sorry Damon broke up with you because it hurts you."

Metal against metal clanged loudly when Addie dropped it back into place and quickly sat up to look at her sister. Slowly and threateningly she said, "Damon and I broke up because he's an overly jealous control freak. He couldn't handle that I was spending my time with another guy instead of coming home to be with him. I could have kept him but I chose not to. I don't care if he flirts with you because I know you lost your chance at him a long time ago. We may be having a disagreement right now but I'm the one he'll always come back to. Not you. Not Katherine. Me."

Elena stared at her territorial sister as she when back to lifting weight. Damon had broken up with her for a reason. His interest had turned to herself. He wasn't going to go back to Addie when he had her. She jumped when the subject of her thoughts silently entered the room.

Smirking, Damon pressed a finger to his lips, motioning for Elena to be quiet. When Addie had the bar pushed halfway up, he flashed over to her and pushed just enough strength down on the bar so she could still hold it but she couldn't lift it.

Addie almost dropped the weight onto herself with the surprise of it suddenly seeming to weigh more. Lifting always seemed easier when she visualized the bar as a long feather but her eyes snapped opened and narrowed at the smug face looking down on her. A long string of colorful words echoed in the small apartment.

"Geesh. Cool your jets. I'm just helping you out," Damon chuckled, still not letting her move the weight.

"Damon!"

"Come on, Buffy," he taunted, not letting up.

Her lips pressed into a thin line but he just grinned back at her. Suddenly the weight was falling. Damon barely caught it inches above her throat.

"Are you fucking insane?" he swore loudly as he replaced the bar on the stand.

Giggling Addie got up. Any opportunity she had to take Damon by surprise Addie took. "That's a very debatable question. However my sanity is not linked to what I just did." She stood on her toes and pressed a kiss to his cheek as she quietly said, "I knew you wouldn't let me die."

"And if I hadn't reacted fast enough?" he glowered, not appreciating the scare she had given him.

"Please. You're always ready to react. You're like a bomb without a fuse."

"I could have let you die."

Addie pursed her lips into a sad, apologetic smile as she condescendingly told, "It's really cute you think that but no, no, you couldn't."

She was right and he couldn't come up with any witty retort so he changed the subject and turned to Elena. "You called. I'm here. What's up?" he asked as he picked a stake up off the coffee table and pretended to aim it at her.

"Do you actually know what's happening right now? Stefan called me a human blood bag. He's a completely different person," huffed Elena.

A tiny flicker of guilt lit in Addie as she recalled basically offering up Elena's blood anytime he wanted in exchange for him leaving. It wasn't much different from what had actually happened.

Damon rolled his eyes dramatically and gave a large, exacerbated sigh. "Duh. He has no humanity meaning he has no conscience. What do you think happens when you take away the conscience of someone as guilt ridden and self-loathing as my brother?"

"So, if humanity is akin to a conscience, what happens when _you_ turn off your humanity?"

He definitely would have slept with her a long time ago if his humanity was off. Then he probably would have killed her for getting onto him about every person he killed. He'd have definitely slept with her first, though. But Stefan had left two bodies at the bottom of the stairs that morning and she hadn't said anything. Maybe his serial killing ways wouldn't be as much of an issue to her now. Damon wasn't certain how he felt about that. Her ethics were part of why he fell in love with her. They were also part of what placed her on the pedestal of innocence that had a warning sign above it saying "do not touch or corrupt."

"Trust me, you don't want to know," he decided with a suggestive grin.

Elena frowned. She didn't like the little back-and-forths between Addie and Damon; they were a significant proponent of what made them work. Loud enough to bring the attention back to herself she said, "I want to lock Stefan up, at least until this Mikael guy comes, kills Klaus, and the compulsion breaks."

"That's _so_ not going to solve your problem," Addie muttered to herself. Stefan had been a completely different person when she spent the summer with him.

Damon nodded and agreed, "Addie's right. Compulsion or not, Stefan's high on human blood, ok? A lot of it."

"You've gotten him off it before!"

He wasn't exactly sure where she had come up with that idea. Lexi had always gotten him off of it. Damon was always trying to teach him how to control it. Admittedly, from the little he had seen, Stefan did seem to be doing a better job of keeping his ripper side in check. He'd fed on Elena without ripping her head off. He managed to play with the five sorority girls rather than drain them in one sitting. And the town wasn't in a panic over a stream of murders. At least not that he was aware of. In his opinion, his brother was a semi-functioning vampire.

"This is different. It's not a stint in rehab, Elena. His humanity's gone. Light's out. No one's home," shrugged Damon. If his brother got his humanity back and kept this new found semblance of self-control, he didn't see anything wrong.

"Then do it for me, Damon," Elena pleaded. "Every single time I look at him, I feel like I'm going to break. And I'm not going to give him that satisfaction."

Addie experienced a fleeting moment of sympathy for her sister. Looking at Damon, being with Damon, talking to Damon, thinking about Damon, all made her feel like she was going to crumble into a million weepy pieces. Then Damon put Elena's hand over his heart and any sympathy she felt was gone. While she managed to stay in one piece, seeing her sister touch him like she had so many time made her eyes sting. She pulled her lip between her teeth, refusing to let the tears form.

"What are you doing?" Elena asked cautiously. If her sister hadn't been present she would have chalked the move up to more of Damon's flirting but she doubted he would be so obvious and hurt her like that.

His tone was crisp and instructional and he taught her, "Feel that? It's a sternum. Solid plate of bone." He tugged on her arm and spun her around so her back was against his chest. Elena's breath hitched but that wasn't of interest to him. His eyes landed on Addie as she turned away. His fingers pressed against Elena's back as he told her, "Right here, just below the rib cage, next to the spine, that's your way to a vampire's heart." Damon let go of her and stepped back as Elena quickly moved to gather her things. She knew he'd been an idiot, too, apparently. "I'll do whatever it is you need me to do, Elena."

"We'll catch him at the back-to-school bonfire. I need to go make arrangements," Elena said.

The sound of the door closing behind her seemed louder than a lawn mower in the tense silence. Damon felt a pain in his stomach as he saw Addie raise her hand to her face and then drop it. She was crying. He'd made her cry.

"Addie, I didn't mean to hurt you," he whispered, moving closer to her. "I wasn't flirting with her. That wasn't at all sexual. I was just trying to teach her something. You don't need to be jealous."

"Really? Explain to me how you figure that because I figure that you two have feelings for each other, no matter how small you may claim yours are. You've spent the entire summer flirting with her. The flirting got much more intense after we broke up. And now you're making excuses for her to touch you like I did and you're holding her like you used to hold me," she spat. "Oh, I almost forgot to mention that you're doing it right in front of me."

She wasn't going to believe any explanation he gave; her tone made it clear that her mind was already made up. "I'm sorry if you think I have something with Elena or that I'm trying to hurt you but that's not the case," he said helplessly. There wasn't much else he could say.

"Whatever," Addie muttered spinning to face him. She jabbed him hard in the center of his chest as she seethed, "How dare you bash my brother's head in."

"Yeah, sorry I didn't answer your texts last night. Katherine nicked my phone from me. As soon as I got your messages about what was going on I rushed back," he replied, brushing her finger off him.

"And how dare you leave my brother with Katherine!"

Damon rolled his eyes; there was no winning with her. "Would you have preferred I took long to get back and brought your brother to Klaus?

"You left him with him with the woman who kidnapped him. You hurt him!"

"And it was all for a valid cause! Did you not miss Klaus getting the hell out of here when I told him we found Mikael? Yes, I had to rough of up your brother to get his ghosty girlfriend to talk; it wasn't anything personal," he retorted sharply. Addie was particularly protective of her brother and he had known she would give him grief for for touching him.

Addie glared at him and sneered, "I bet you didn't even try asking nicely."

He shrugged, "That would have been a waste of precious time."

"You don't know that."

"No, I don't."

She growled in frustration and mimicked strangling him.

"He's perfectly fine. Katherine's waking up Mikael. Klaus is gonna be dead. It's a win all around. He might even take care of that snotty sister."

"Rebekah may be a brat but there's no need to kill her," she snapped back at him defensively.

Damon scoffed, "Ads, she's an Original and we're all out of daggers. Mikael is the preemptive strike before she gets out of hand."

Addie's lips pursued. In the 1920s Klaus _and_ Rebekah had been running from Mikael but Klaus had left Rebekah behind when he had heard Mikael was coming. All summer she had gotten the sense that Klaus was protective of his little sister. Did that mean she was safe from Mikel and he was the one being hunted or were both of them on the hit list?

"She's become a friend to me, Damon. Mikael is not touching her. I will hold you personally responsible if he does."

"Mhm, ok. And now that we're not dating, what exactly are you going to do to me? You can't break up with me," he taunted.

A chill ran through him as icily eyed him up and down and frostily asked, "Why do you think I agreed to train with Alaric?"

"Alright," Damon smirked smugly, crossing his arms, "when you can kill a vampire you and I will have a fair fight and you can try and kill me." He didn't doubt Addie would hit him with some vervain or stake him if he hurt her family or friends but she'd never have the stomach to kill him.

Addie rolled her eyes. Alaric wasn't good enough to kill Damon which meant he couldn't train her to be. Her only chance at ever getting one on Damon was the element of surprise, which wouldn't be too hard as he frequently let his guard down around her.

"Deal."

* * *

Addie's legs dangled back and forth as she sat on a desk in Alaric's classroom as she listened to the others discuss Stefan and their plan to take him down. Her elbows rested on her knees and her hands held her chin. It didn't make sense as to why Elena had requested her presence. Damon sat on a low bookshelf with his head against the wall looking like he didn't exactly see why he was there either.

"I'll lure Stefan away from the bonfire," her sister said certainly. Elena looked to Alaric and continued, "Then when he's distracted…"

Alaric nodded and finished, "I'll shoot him."

"Can't Bonnie just ju-ju him or something?" Damon question. Addie had to agree that seemed much more reasonable.

"I'm trying to keep Bonnie out of this. I don't trust that Stefan won't hurt her. C-"

"Then why is Addie here?" Damon interrupted angrily. "Bonnie can at least defend herself from Stefan with the brain thing. What do you expect your sister to do?"

Addie glared at him and through clenched teeth said, "Shut up. I can handle myself."

"The fact that you think that is proof that you can't!" he lectured.

She shrugged and carelessly remarked, "I'm sorry but you lost all rights to being an overly protective dick when we broke up."

"Caroline," Elena said quickly, speaking before Damon could respond, " are you covered?"

"Yes! I will make sure that the old Forbes jail cell is prepped and ready," Caroline said brightly. Addie's reunion with her had been pretty brief and had mostly consisted of her explaining how her dad had tortured her and tried to train her to not like blood. Thankfully she hadn't mentioned anything about Addie's summer or the break up with Damon.

Normally Addie was all for locking up the bad guy but she didn't believe in this plan to rehabilitate Stefan. Elena thought she could make him feel again but Addie doubted that was even possible when his humanity was compelled off. It wasn't like Klaus had left Stefan with the options of having feelings even if he wanted them. Plus, while Stefan was killing people, he wasn't exactly ripping heads off, Addie didn't know how the whole blood deprivation plan would go with that.

"We're forgetting a key player here," Damon said dryly. Addie groaned but the other's looked at him in confusion. He sighed, "Rebekah? Where Stefan goes, the blonde ponytail tends to follow."

"Which is why it's your job to keep her away," Elena instructed.

He scoffed and shook his head, "How?! She's an Original. Last time I checked, we're out of daggers."

"Preoccupy her with you charm," Addie quipped.

"Might have better luck finding the dagger," Alaric muttered.

Addie shook her head, "That's long gone. But you do have a point. Damon, don't talk; there is no charm there. Just take your shirt off and she'll follow you instead of Stefan."

As he looked back and forth from his ex-girlfriend and best friend Damon scowled, "Are you two ever not going to be mad at me?"

Alaric and Addie grinned at each other before simultaneously saying, "Doubtful."

"Sorry I'm late," said Tyler, strolling in through the open door. "What's going on?"

"We need you to raid your mom's vervain supply. Enough to keep Stefan down for a while."

Addie looked curiously at Damon. When did he stop providing it to the council? Wasn't that the role of the Salvatore family?

The hybrid slightly shook his head and slowly said, "You can't do that to Stefan."

"Why not?" asked Caroline.

In an all-knowing voice Elena told him, "Trust me, Tyler, it's in his best interest."

Addie rolled her eyes and bit her tongue to keep from remarking on her sister's superiority complex.

"Yeah," agreed the blonde vampire, her head whipping from her best friend to boyfriend.

He simply said, "It's not in Klaus'."

Addie noticed Damon look from the ceiling to the group. She raised a curious eyebrows at him but he didn't respond.

"But Klaus is the bad guy, Tyler. You know, why are you actin like some freaky, hybrid, slave minion?" Caroline demanded.

"Uh-oh," Damon said softly as he slowly stood up.

Alaric quickly turned towards him asking, "What?"

Addie watched Damon slowly moved closer as she heard Tyler explain, "Klaus made me who I am, Caroline. I owe him everything."

"Oh boy."

The girl turned around and snapped at Damon, "Ok, can we cool it on the commentary, please?"

"What is going on?" Elena questioned.

Addie patiently drummed her fingers on the desk. Unlike everyone else, she was not eager to hear about the new problem. Besides, Damon would say something when he wanted to, not when he was asked. She noticed him discreetly grab a vervain dart off Alaric's desk.

"I'm just gonna go," Tyler decided, turning around slowly and heading away.

Next thing anyone knew the hybrid was groaning loudly as Damon stabbed him in the back with the vervain. Unconscious, Tyler fell to the floor.

"What are you doing?!" Caroline shrieked, grabbing Damon's arm.

"He's been sired," he stated, watching Caroline check on the boy.

Alaric's brows furrowed. "What?"

"Sired," Damon repeated turning back to them. "He feels loyal to Klaus because Klaus' blood created him."

Addie looked at him skeptically. "Sired? Katherine's blood created you and you don...nevermind," she trailed off, waving a dismissive hand.

"Loyal how?"

Damon looked back down at Tyler and sighed, "He'll seek acceptance from his master. It's really rare. But maybe not so much in hybrids. Wolves are kin to dogs and Klaus is like an owner."

"So how do I fix him?" Caroline asked, looking up at him hopefully.

He smiled at her and said, "Get a new boyfriend."

There was a lull in conversation so Addie commented, "You know what's a really big flaw design in hybrids? They're weak against vervain and wolfsbane. For being a super species, you would think that being a vamp made them immune to wolfsbane and being a wolf made them immune to vervain. I mean, if they were a _true_ super species. Otherwise it's logical that they're weak against both. Though I don't see why the supernatural picks _now_ to become logical."

"Yes, Addie," Damon said slowly, "The big design flaw is vervain and wolfsbane, not that they need to be created with your sister's blood."

"I didn't say that wasn't also a flaw." She stuck her tongue out at him.

* * *

Leaning against a tree Addie grimaced as she watched Damon start in on his part of the plan. He sat close to Rebekah who was roasting a marshmallow. The puffy confection caught flame and the Original blew it out. Addie wasn't close enough to hear what Damon was saying but that was definitely his suggestive smile as he pulled off the burnt part of the treat. He angled the stick Rebekah was holding until the melty center touched her lips. Addie watched Damon intently watch her eat it, purposefully licking his fingers.

"What's that look?" a voice asked from next to her.

"Is jealousy too obvious of an answer?" she scowled at Stefan.

"No but it definitely doesn't suit you," he told her, passing her a red plastic cup.

Addie took it and sniffed before holding it back out to him. "It smells like piss."

He laughed. "It's from a keg that a bunch of high schoolers bought with the sole intention of getting drunk on. You pound it back and don't taste it."

:"Why?"

"Because it will make watching my brother hurt less."

She shook her head. "Not good enough. You have no humanity, you don't care how I feel. What do _you_ get out of this?"

"Caught me. I don't care. You're just more fun drunk. Plus, if Rebekah and Damon see us chatting, she's gonna flip her lid with jealousy and he's going to have a panic attack. Causing those things to happen just seems like fun."

Watching Damon toast a marshmallow and laugh with Rebekah, playfully shoving her with his shoulder made her nauseous. She pinched her nose to minimize the taste of the beer as she chugged down the cup in three gulps. The flavor that lingered made her shudder in disgust. She switched her empty glass with Stefan's full one and repeated the process. Addie shrugged innocently at cool look he gave her. "I'm sober. Causing those things might actually be fun if I'm not. But rather than taunting Rebekah and Damon, shouldn't you be watching my sister? We both know she doesn't handle her alcohol very well."

"Unfortunately your right,' Stefan sighed, taking the cup from Addie. "She's far less amusing than you."

Addie rolled her eyes as he left; there was no doubt Stefan was a different person if he truly thought that. Her arms crossed as she watched Damon make and feed Rebekah a s'more. Words were exchanged and she stood up far too quickly. Addie tensed when Damon stood up too. Another few words and then Rebekah thrust the stick they'd been using into Damon's stomach. She rushed up to him while she watched him yank out the wood.

"She knows something's up," he groaned out when she got close.

"It's not our problem," said Addie as she grabbed his hand and started walking towards the parking lot. She swallowed past the lump in her throat at the scent of Damon's blood. Spending the summer watching three vampires make bloody messes had slightly lessened her squeamish reaction but this was D _amon's_ blood. It meant her Damon had been hurt. That's why she couldn't look at his ripped shirt or the blood on it; it was more than unsettling.

"Pretty sure my job in this plan was to distract her," he challenged. Still Damon lazily let her drag him along. Addie was far more interesting than Rebekah, who would probably kill him if he continued trying to distract her.

"Mhm," Addie hummed dryly. "And do you even agree with this plan? You think we should lock Stefan up? You think that's the answer? If you can answer any of those with an honest 'yes' I will go distract her."

His fingers interlaced with hers and gently squeezed. He loved how she knew him so well. Not wanting to let her think she was entirely right he pointed out, "If Stefan's locked up I won't have to worry about him hurting you."

"And then what excuse will you come up with to get me in your bed?" she snickered, pulling out her keys and unlocking the doors.

"I wouldn't have to come up with anything. See, I've discovered that _you_ want in my bed as much as I want you there. You'd come up with some excuse for me," he answered cockily.

She pulled her hand away from his and scowled, "Shut up and get in the car."

With his lightning fast reflexes Damon snatched the keys from her. "You're crazy if you think I'm riding in a car with you."

"You got it for me! You gave me my license!" Addie protested. She jumped to try and take the keys he dangled over his head. He acted like he was going to give them back only to pull them out of reach at the last minute. "Damon!"

"Just because I trust you to drive doesn't mean I trust you to drive with me in the car. You'll be more focused on how attractive I am than you will be the road and then we'll crash. Personally, I'm pretty much invincible but you're rather fragile so I'd prefer that not happen. I, on the other hand, can focus on both you and the road," he smirked, holding the passenger door open for her.

Her lips pinched as she looked between Damon and the car. "You wouldn't let me drive your car so why should I let you drive mine?"

"Because I have an record going back 80 years of no accidents or traffic violations."

"Ha ha! Exactly how many times have you compelled your way out of a speeding ticket?"

Damon blinked at her and maintained, "All that matter is that I haven't gotten a ticket. Also, with me driving, we would be far less likely to get into an accident because my reaction speeds make you look like a snail."

"You're a dick."

"A dick who's driving," he smirked, walking around to the other side of the Jeep.

* * *

Addie tossed and turned in the bed of the room reserved for her at the boarding house. While she wanted to be curled up next to Damon she wasn't going to be that obvious and desperate about it. With Stefan locked up, Damon would have to come up with a new excuse to get her into his bed or, more simply, ask her. He already got a cocky grin on his face every time he saw her in his boxers and shirt.

The clock blinked mockingly at her every two seconds. It had been over an hour and a half since she had taking her sleeping pills; if they didn't work within thirty minutes it meant she was in for a rough night fighting for sleep. It was almost a relief when there was a knock on her door; it meant Addie didn't have to think about sleep.

"Yeah?" she called out. The door creaked open and in the shadows she could make out Damon's face. "That wasn't an invitation to enter," she teased, mocking what he always told everyone.

"Come to my room, Ads." It was an order, not a question.

She licked her lips nervously and asked, "What happened?"

Damon lifted a finger to his lips, cupped his ear and pointed downstairs. Great. It was something he didn't want Rebekah overhearing. Addie groaned as she left the warm, cozy bed. He held the door open for her and closed it behind her. His hand automatically fell to the small of her back as he followed her to his room. Upon entering Addie immediately rushed to Damon's bed and burrowed under the blanket, pulling it over her head and around her face so only her eyes could be seen.

"Dork," he chucked as he moved to his dresser.

"I'm cold," she pouted. "And cranky. My sleeping pills didn't work."

"Lovely," he muttered. Damon wasn't sure which of them suffered more when that happened as it meant neither one of them slept well. Addie kicked and moved and pressed herself against him and moved away and elbowed him every time he started to fall asleep. She just couldn't get comfortable enough and relax long enough to fall asleep. Sometimes if he held her to where she couldn't move she would eventually drift into a light slumber.

He turned on the sound machine and sounds of the ocean filled the room. The little noise maker Addie suggested had been the best $20 he'd ever spent. The privacy it gave them was invaluable. From his sock drawer he pulled out a decanter of scotch and a tumbler. He poured a healthy measure of the amber liquid. Almost forgetting, Damon tugged off his shirt and jeans and tossed them in his closet. They'd find their way into the hamper in the morning. He grabbed the drink and got into bed.

Addie let out a groan when Damon tugged at the blanket wrapped around her. He pushed back and forth at her calf and whined, "Share."

"You don't get cold," she countered.

He shrugged and took a sip, relishing the slight tingle as it ran down his throat. Sighing, she unwound herself from the blanket and tossed some of it over Damon's lower half. Propping herself up on one elbow she grabbed the glass from him and tried it.

"Um, excuse me?" he gawked, holding his hand out.

She took a proper drink before passing it back to him. "It goes down surprisingly smooth. I like that it's kinda minty," Addie told him, ignoring his expression of disbelief.

Sternly he said, "Love, you _do not_ mix alcohol and sleeping pills."

Addie rolled her cerulean eyes and rested her head in his lap. "Technically," she drew out, tapping the center of his bare chest, "I'm not suppose to drink with any of my medications."

"So don't!"

"Meh," she shrugged. She'd drank pretty decent amounts while she was in London and it hadn't done anything to her so she was fairly confident she wasn't going to hurt herself. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Huge shocker; the plan didn't work."

Dramatically she gasped and scandalously whispered, "Oh my god. It didn't work?"

"My exact reaction," he smirked, flicking the tip of her nose. She playfully nipped at his hand. "They got Stefan down with the vervain. He and Elena were in Ric's car when, according to them, it spontaneously combusted. Because we're dealing with idiots, they didn't roofie Stefan enough. He was strong enough to kick out Alaric's trunk but not strong enough to pull himself out of the car. Don't ask me how one is possible and not the other; it all sounds like a load of crap to me. Long story short everyone was fine and Stefan's downstairs," Damon explained.

Both having had doubts about the plan, they exchanged "I-told-you-so" looks. Addie reached up and played with the strands of his dark hair, still damp from the shower. It really was getting long. Grinning she gave him bangs, pulling the front of his hair down over his forehead and past his eyes.

"Ads," he laughed, swatting her hand away and pushing his raven locks back into place. "You just like screwing up my hair, don't you."

She nodded. "Only because you spend so much time making it perfect. How pissed is your brother?"

"Well, that's the good thing about humanity; you don't really get mad. He was just kinda amused and found Elena pathetic for still having hope of rehabilitating him," Damon explained. Though not being mad was not the same as not getting even. Stefan couldn't hurt Elena and he knew everyone else would protect her, making it in his best interest to keep them alive but that didn't mean he couldn't be an annoying pain in the ass.

Addie stole the tumbler he was staring into and took another drink before passing it back. His mouth hung open as he stared at her. "What?" she challenged. " _You_ are going to start giving me lectures about drinking?"

"I'm tempted," he admitted.

"I strongly advise against it," she warned. "You keep treating me like I'm some little girl. I _did_ manage to survive this summer without you. Wasn't the whole point of me going to grow up?"

Damon finished off the scotch and set the glass on the nightstand before sliding down next to her. He noticed how her leg was shaking and gently rested his knee on top of hers, effectively stopping the movement. They hadn't discussed the summer; it was a stressful and depressing one for him, Addie… she was always full of surprises. "When I said it was a chance for you to grow up I didn't mean it was a chance for you to turn into a completely different person."

"I'm not."

He shook his head and turned away from her. "No, you're not. You drink, which I kind of imagined _never_ happening. You lie to me and keep secrets from me when I thought we had reached a level of trust. I'm not even touching the subject of Klaus because you have school tomorrow and we're not going to stay up all night fighting. However I have to say that you are insanely reckless. My God, Addie. I saw you drinking and talking with Stefan tonight. The only way I can explain you doing that is that you have some new found death wish or I have not impressed upon you how dangerous he is."

Addie addressed his points, ticking them off on her fingers, "A little to drink doesn't give me a new personality. I lie and keep things from you to protect you! If you want to discuss secrets, let's talk you and Elena. Klaus is probably the biggest thing we need to talk about as he seems to star in your warped delusions. And I have always been a bit reckless or maybe you don't remember me repeatedly punching you in the face the night we met or working with/using Katherine when she was after the moonstone."

Damon abruptly turned onto his stomach, keeping his weight supported on his elbow. He used one hand to push her shoulder down as he hovered inches over her. Her surprised, dark blue eyes met his hard bright ones. "There is a difference between being reckless and not giving a damn about what happens to you," he snarled angrily. "If I was human, my liver would be shot from drinking so much. I'm not entirely convinced that hadn't already started to ruin it when I turned. It's not my place to judge someone for drinking. I'm upset with you doing it because you know you're not supposed to drink on your medications. You're young and think you're invincible but the warning labels are there for a reason. You don't know when something might happen. I'm pissed off at you for putting yourself in needless risk just for a buzz. Before this summer you would have agreed with me on how irrational you're being."

A little more gently he continued, "I _want_ to discuss the secrets. Ask me anything you want about Elena. I've never lied to you before about what goes on between us or how I feel about her so why should I now? I apologize if you expected me to call you up in London just to say, 'Hey, love. I'm gonna flirt with your sister and screw with her head and her emotions because it's kinda the perfect chance to get back at her for toying at me.' Morally apprehensible, I know. I'm _not_ a good guy, Ads. But there is one thing that I am and that's honest with you. Yes, we may have been an ocean apart but does it make me a fool for expecting that trust and honesty to remain intact?"

Addie tried to turn away from his burning stare but he gently grabbed her by the chin and held her gaze, his eyes demanding an answer. "Do you remember the guy who killed my aunt to maximize the amount of pain he caused? The guy who would have killed you if you weren't already dying of a werewolf bite?"

"No, I completely forgot about Klaus," he spat.

"That guy is a scary guy. When he said he would kill you and Jeremy and everyone else if you found out about his little road trip plan I knew that was a promise, not a threat," Addie whispered, her lips trembling. "I couldn't chance that, Damon."

"You could have given me some clue, Addie!"

She shook her head. "I was already terrified that you were gonna get yourself killed trying to save Stefan. My only hope was that you had kind of seemed to give up at one point, which I know that's awful to say but… I value your life more than Stefan's. And I know this sounds conceited but I knew if you knew I was with Klaus, you would work _so_ much harder to save me. It's not even because you love me more, though; it's because you think of me as some helpless little girl who needs your protection. Even now you genuinely fear that Stefan will randomly come into my room and kill me. The point is, you would have gotten yourself killed and I… don't you think I've lost enough people? Do you really blame me for being selfish and wanting you alive? If the situations were reversed, would you have given me a warning?" she said softly, trying to make him see reason.

Damon gave a low growl and buried his face between where her neck and shoulder met. Of course he wouldn't have told her; he wouldn't have wanted to stress her over something she could do nothing about. If he said he would've warned her she'd demand justification as to why and he couldn't come up with anything satisfactory. It wasn't fair for her to use the guilt card of everyone's death in her argument. Everything always came down to her not wanting someone to die. But how could he be mad at her when all he wanted was for her to stay alive. She was going to drive him mad.

"You could have told me that your new best friend was his sister!"

Addie scoffed humorlessly, "Honestly tell me you wouldn't have gotten on the next plane to London and dragged my ass back here and I'll apologize for that."

"Allying yourself with her is a fatal move," he murmured, his lips brushing along the column of her throat. A smug sense of satisfaction filled him as he felt the goosebumps rise.

Her shoulder tried to dislodge him from next to her neck but he refused to move at her nudging. Allowing Damon to blur the lines of acceptable physical contact before they started dating was leaving her confused about what was ok now that they weren't together. She ignored him as best she could as he brushed his slight 5 o'clock shadow along the sensitive skin.

"I'm not _allying_ myself with anyone," Addie muttered. She ran her hands up into his thick, dark hair and quickly jerked his head so he was looking her in the eye. Slowly she emphasized, "I'm not even allied with you. Anyone who shows the first hint of being a danger to my family, friends or me and gets the kick."

"And yet-"

"Rebekah has a record of being less hazardous than you. She hasn't tried to kill me or anyone I care about. She hasn't gotten lucky about my brother wearing a magical ring when she snapped his neck. Really, the only thing she's done is hurt Stefan in a jealous rage but she had no intent of killing him. If Klaus wouldn't kill her for it, she _might_ kill Elena in another jealous fit but as long as Elena is valuable to Klaus, that's not going to happen. I'm a big girl, Damon. I can pick out my friends."

"Do we need to go over your very bad choices in vampire _friends_? Remember you decision to trust Katherine, who screwed us over? Remember your decision to trust Elijah, who screwed us over? Remember your decision to trust Klaus, the guy who killed Jenna and tried to kill your sister and turned off my brother's humanity and turned Tyler into a hybrid?" he recollected in a falsely jovial voice.

"You're right," Addie concede. "You're forgetting one bad choice, though. You left out the psychotic, self-proclaimed serial killing, narcissistic vampire who I did more than befriend. If I should be considering ditching anyone, it should be the person who's broken my heart," she finished quietly, a dangerous warning slightly detectable.

Knowing what she was getting at, Damon rolled back onto his side shortly replying, "I said I wasn't discussing Klaus with you."

She laughed humorlessly, "Of course you're not. You're only going to discuss something as long as you have an argument for it and can justify being right. We'll just ignore the fact that we _did_ talk about him. What you really mean is that you won't discuss him in regards to our breaking up. You're not willing to talk about the biggest problem that has ever come between us and I have no clue as to why that is. I know we both suck at the touchy-feely emotional aspect of a relationship and deflect pain with more pain and sarcasm; however, while I'm willing to deal with that awkwardness for twenty minutes to work this out, I guess being broken up is the more rational option to you."

"Yep," he agreed, popping the "puh" sound. He shouldn't have to explain how she had betrayed him by choosing to stay with Klaus in Chicago. "That brings us back around to my last point of you acting like someone who doesn't even seem to care if they live or die. You don't care about the dangers of mixing your meds and alcohol. You're chatting it up with a vampire who would kill you without a second thought. Evil Originals are your new best friends."

Not wanting to be close to Damon, Addie grabbed her pillow and moved to the edge of the bed, facing away from him. There was no argument that she had grown a little lax with her safety over the summer. Many of situations Damon would have deemed less than safe, such as traveling to Paris by herself one weekend, had occurred while she was in Europe. Addie didn't exactly view those things as much stupid as she did as the acts of a young adult taking advantage of their freedom. Her eyes burned as she painfully remembered that she wasn't anywhere near being an adult, though. No matter what she told Damon she _was_ just a 16 year-old kid. She knew she wasn't supposed to do a lot of the things she had done but there was no one there to tell her not to or hold her accountable for acting irresponsible.

When her parents and Jenna and John had been alive, Addie had been pretty good about monitoring her own behavior hadn't exactly been a problem child like her siblings. The only "bad" thing she had ever done was have a relationship with Damon and that was only really wrong because of the age difference. Even still, _Damon_ kept it from being truly questionable by maintaining very strict physical boundaries. That definitely wasn't something she had expected from him and it had initially seemed like while he wouldn't pressure her, he would do whatever she wanted. Addie realized he had truly come to care about her more than he admitted when all that changed and he refused to let anything happen that either of them would possibly regret. It just made her fall for him more.

There was something she hated about becoming close to Damon and it was why she'd turned away from him. When Addie lied to him, he was usually pretty good about detecting it in her body language. Another thing she detested about being so close to him was how reliant on him she felt. Breaking up with him had shattered her heart. Of course she missed Bonnie and Jeremy and even Caroline while she was gone but what she had missed most of all of was being with Damon, sharing everything with Damon. She'd wanted to tell him about all the horrible things she'd seen that left her with nightmares. She wanted him to hold her and tell her that everything was going to be ok. She wanted to fight with him over absolutely nothing just to see that sweet, innocent, apologetic smile meant just for her. Everything was so messed up with Elena and Jenna and John but all of that was supposed to go back to being bearable with Damon by her side. Then he broke up with her and she knew none of what she wanted would happen.

It was highly possible that the full effect of not having taken her medications for so long had kicked in and she became indifferent to what Klaus eventually decided to do with her or it was possible she felt like that because Addie knew she wouldn't be happy with how things were when she got home. A combination of being off her medication and the situation with Damon was most likely the culprit behind her lack of concern over life and death. He was right; she was acting like she didn't care if she lived or died because she didn't. Being back with Damon didn't even change how Addie felt. Yes, she still shared his bed and would cuddle with him but there was an emotional chasm between them that left her miserable and aching for him.

"Ads," said Damon gently after several moments of silence. Softly he slightly shook her shoulder but she continued to ignore him. It wasn't unusual for Addie to stop talking if he upset her but she never moved away from him, completely blocking him out. Debating if he was crossing a line or just giving her the push she needed he slid up behind her and wrapped an arm around her waist. He softly urged, "Talk to me."

"I don't want to talk to you," she answered tensely.

Crossing a line, he decided. Damon backed away from her but slowly slid his hand up and down her back. "Please, love."

"Don't," Addie muttered. "Don't call me that anymore."

Sighing, he moved his hand to run it through his hair. "Why not?"

"We're not dating."

"We weren't dating earlier or last night. What changed?" he demanded. She didn't answer so he thought back over what he said. "What? Are you pissed off because I'm concerned about what happens to you if you do something stupid?" he scoffed. Her shoulders stiffened. "Seriously?" snapped Damon.

"I told you I don't want to talk," Addie scowled, turning her face into the pillow.

Damon ran a hand over his face in frustration. How could she be upset with him for that? Addie wasn't stupid enough to believe he would stop caring about her just because they broke up. She was probably just being moody. First she wanted to talk and then she suddenly didn't want to talk. Her mood swings were nothing new. Though, Stefan had said she'd been miserable; which, while he had seen her sad and depressed, Damon had never seen her miserable. Except the night that they met. He said he'd have no issue killing her and she told him to do it. She'd been miserable, hopeless, and lost then. Realization hit him.

Annoyed, Damon threw the covers off himself and got out of bed. He couldn't be around Addie right then. Going off on her for not caring about herself wasn't going to change anything. And he couldn't just compel her into caring like before. There was no handbook on how to fix the problem this time. He turned off the sound machine so he could hear any noise coming from the room or hear Stefan messing with the door. From the door he told her, "I'll hear Stefan before he can get in. You'll probably be asleep by the time I come back up."

* * *

 **A/N: Yay! We're back in Mystic Falls. Damon gets a special visit from Mason Lockwood next. Please comment, follow, and favorite =)**


	8. Chapter 7

Sleep didn't come easy for Addie. She knew Damon had gone downstairs upset with her and would be down there for a while. Still, after spending the summer apart, all she could imagine was sleeping curled up next to him. It was five in the morning when she had last looked at the clock, still waiting for him to return.

A loud noise startled her awake but by the time she was conscious enough to try and make out what it was, the sound had stopped. Addie stretched out for Damon, only to find his side of the bed cold. Her eyes opened just enough to see that his pillow still looked like it had the previous night. He had never come back to bed. With a yawn she checked the clock and bolted up; it was a quarter until nine. She'd needed to leave for school five minutes ago. Addie had never set an alarm at boarding house; Damon always made sure she was up on time. Was he _that_ upset with her?

Another ear splitting sound broke through the silence. At Damon's piercing scream Addie scrambled out of bed and ran in the direction it seemed to becoming from. She was moving so fast she slightly stumbled over her feet as she hit the bottom of the stairs. The study, his cries were definitely coming from the study.

Addie covered her mouth in horror a she walked in on him chained to a chair, his skin burning and blistering. More worried about fixing the immediate problem before he burned to ash than concerned about where his ring was, she moved to the floor to ceiling windows. Reaching high she yanked the cream and red curtains closed. Almost instantly Damon quieted to loud, labored breathing.

Her hands cupped his face as her thumbs brushed over his pronounced cheekbones. She did her best to ignore the sticky blood on his chest or the fire poker next to him covered in more blood. Quietly Addie wondered, "Who did this? What happened?"

Damon groaned, letting her support the weight of his head. He had thought Stefan had chained him up and stabbed him as part of some sick and twisted ripper game but he had denied doing it. Plus, while Stefan hadn't untied him, he had removed the fire poke and ripped off the chains holding down one of his wrist. Also, no one else had been present when the curtain had been peeled back and there was something distressingly familiar about how he'd been tied up and attacked with the fire poker.

Until his little experiment with Jeremy Gilbert had proven that the boy was interacting with the ghosts of his old girlfriends he hadn't believed in ghost. If it wasn't for the fact that Vicki Donovan had tried to flambe his brother and Elena, Damon wouldn't even consider the possibility that they could interact with the physical world. He hadn't told Addie that; she was accepting the fact that ghost were real mildly well but she would completely freak if she discovered that they were able to touch things. Not to mention he wasn't entirely sure that sure wouldn't agree with the idea of Mason Lockwood's spirit getting a little revenge for the time Damon spent torturing him. Addie hadn't approved of that.

"It's complicated," he sighed.

"Damon."

He tugged at the wrist that was still bound. The links were bending but they weren't breaking. He grimaced, "Help me pull on this chain."

Addie glanced down skeptically to see what Damon meant and rolled her eyes. He was mental if he actually thought she could help him with that. The dark blood reflected off his chest, telling her it wasn't dry yet; he wasn't at his full strength. Instead of doing as he asked, she walked around behind him and angled her wrist over his lips. He turned his head but she followed him. "Come on, Damon. Don't be dense. I _cannot_ help you break that chain or all the ones wrapped around your chest."

"Ads-"

"You want me to go get you a blood bag and whoever can open the curtains while I'm gone?" Addie offered smartly.

Damon took her hand with his free one. One, two, three times his thumb swept over the cluster of blue veins on her wrist as he felt his fangs descend. Swiftly his fangs cut through the thin skin. He heard her inhale sharply but then he released a little of his venom to ease her pain. Her blood was so sweet and as it ran down his throat it warmed every fiber of his being. More and more flowed into his mouth. When she pulled away he groaned but let her.

"You good to break those chains, now?"

He nodded, easily snapping the binding at wrist. It would have been easier to unwrap the ones around his chest but instead pulled them off in two sharp tugs. Damon dropped the chains in the chair as he used the nail of his thumb to make a small cut on his forefinger. He held out the finger to her and as he watched her gently suck off the blood he held her wrist to check that it headed. When it did, his tongue darted out to clean up the last of the blood.

She broke the intimate eye contact and gestured to his chest while looking over his shoulder. "Can we get that all cleaned up before I puke?"

Glancing down at the blood on his chest, Damon scoffed, "You can step over bloody dead bodies like they're nothing but I get a little blood on me and you're back to being squeamish?"

"It's _your_ blood," she stressed.

He nodded as he picked up his daylight ring. "Come on," said Damon, jerking his head towards the stairs. If Mason Lockwood was floating with a taste for vengeance, he didn't want her to get caught in the crossfire. "Addie," he started firmly, noticing the time as she followed him into his room and closed the door, "why aren't you at school?"

"Go take a shower," she ordered, pushing him towards the bathroom.

"School, Addison."

She raised her hands defensively and looked at him innocently, "I didn't fall asleep until past five in the morning. It would be very irresponsible of me to drive on less than four hours of sleep."

"Well, why didn't you sleep?" he demanded, crossing his arms disapprovingly.

Addie quickly retorted, "I couldn't sleep without you. It's not my fault you were downstairs having a fit."

"Oh, yes. I _do_ sincerely apologize for being passed out, tied up, and with a poker in my chest."

"And how exactly did that happen?" she questioned, mirroring his position.

Damon rolled his eyes and sighed in exasperation, "Get ready for school."

She looked at him blankly. "We just established that it's not safe for me to drive."

" _I_ will drive you."

"You need to take a shower."

"Addie, get dressed while I shower," he instructed firmly.

"Fine," she pouted, sticking her tongue out at him. She watched him get a navy towel from his closet, stopping to throw his clothes from the previous night into the hamper. He waved his hand in a motion for her to get moving as he made his way to the bathroom. "I'm making sure you get in and wash that blood off so I'm not further traumatizer," she said over the sound of the water turning on.

He laughed as his boxers flew out the bathroom doorframe, "I'm getting in. Go. Get. Dress."

Addie waited thirty seconds before quietly rushing to the bed and climbing back under the covers. There was no way she was going to school on such little sleep and without Damon telling her the truth about what had happened. While she couldn't protected him, she felt Rebekah or Stefan would be less likely to attack him if she was there. Hopefully stop him from provoking one of them. Curling an arm around her pillow, Addie listened to the sound of the shower running.

Damon showered longer than he needed to but he figured Addie was likely dragging her but getting ready. It gave him a chance to think about how he was going to explain his encounter with the dead Lockwood to her. He hadn't come up with a solution but he knew had to make accepting it easier on her somehow. Water dripped into his face as he pushed wet hair out of it. It really was getting a little long but he wasn't quite ready to quite give Addie the satisfaction of cutting it.

He stepped out the shower, wrapping the towel around his waist. Not hearing Addie move around Damon decided to brush his teeth. His toothbrush definitely looked much better now that Addie's was back in the holder, next to his. Running his tongue over his freshly cleaned teeth he went back into the bedroom.

"Addie!" he admonished, seeing her curled up asleep in bed. She didn't answer him. He walked around to her side of the bed and gently shook her. "Addie!" She grunted. "Get up! Get ready!"

Sleepily she mumbled, "I'm not going."

He bent over her, kissing her temple, her cheek, the corner of her mouth. "Come on, Ads," whispered Damon encouragingly. "It's the second day and you're already late."

"Sick day. Sleep day. Your fault," she muttered.

Damon didn't quite understand that logic. But if Addie had fallen asleep in the time it took him to shower she was definitely tired. He wasn't going to argue with her; not today. From the top drawer he pulled out a clean pair of boxers and from the second drawer he pulled out the picture of them kissing on the Ferris Wheel. On a hook on the back of his closet door he hung the towel so he could put on the boxers and he returned the picture frame to where it belonged. When he slid into bed Adie immediately curled up next to him, her head on his chest and an arm tight around his waist. Damon kissed the crown of her head and warned, "Don't think you're gonna sleep all day. "

"Few hours," she whispered, slightly turning her head to kiss his chest.

"Ok," he agreed as he pulled his phone off the charger. It was probably futile but while she slept he would scour the internet for any legitimate information on ghost. About two and a half hours later he felt Addie's breathing become more shallow as she lightly rubbed up and down his calf. Damon dropped his phone under her pillow and slid his hand under the dark t-shirt of his she wore to lightly scratch at her back. She gave a tired hummed. Damon pressed another kiss to the top of her head,

Addie smirked and kissed the inside of his forearm as he brought his free hand to play with her hair. She giggled, "I can't believe you didn't haul me down to school."

"I've missed out on holding you sleep for almost four months. I wasn't going to fight you too hard on making up for lost time," he replied superiorly, as if he could have gotten her to do whatever he wanted.

"You just knew it was an argument you couldn't win," she snickered as she stretched, still holding him tight. The heavy red curtains blocked out most of the sun but the room was still light as she opened her eyes. Staring at the picture at the nightstand she flatly observed, "That wasn't there last night."

"No," Damon admitted, not needing to follow her gaze to know what she was talking about. He punched another pillow behind his head, slightly elevating himself.

Curtly she told him, "I don't want it out. Put it back wherever it was."

His hands stilled on her shoulder and the small of her back. Addie was fickle about when she was in the mood to have discussions, so he'd have to make her want to. "No, I want it out. If I recall correctly this is my room and that is my copy of the picture. I don't see why I can't do with it as I please," he retorted. Damon pressed his hands more firmly against her when he felt her move to pull away. "I'll tell you what, let's have a little talk and if by the end of it you still want me to put it away, I will," he offered.

Addie rolled her shoulder, swatted his hand off when he didn't remove it and scooted back up the bed and rested on her pillow next to him. She ordered sharply, "Talk."

He shook his head. "I've done a lot of that. I think it's time that I shut up and listen. I jumped down your throat this summer and haven't been willing to listen since." Damon still didn't want to listen but while he had showered he had concluded that the only way Addie was going to get through the knowledge of ghost wandering around and skewering folks was if she felt like she had him to turn to. From the start he had discovered three things that truly frightened her: death, snakes, and ghosts. Addie had never wanted to deal with the supernatural world and now she was going to be confronted with what truly haunted her. There were two possible reactions: she might go into shock and denial, refuse to accept reality, completely disconnect from the world and become non-responsive like she had when she saw Bonnie feign being dead in order to make Klaus believe she really was or Addie would pretend that everything was fine and that she was handling it until the pressure and fear exploded in a panic attack. Damon wasn't certain what she would do if that happened; Addie typically ran to calm down and escape her problems but he wasn't sure that she wouldn't just take off driving to put as much distance as between herself and the problem as possible.

"I want to know how you ended up at Gloria's bar in Chicago."

"You want to discuss Klaus?" she suspiciously asked.

Damon's lips pinched sourly but he nodded. "We need to discuss Klaus. I need to understand. You deserve a chance to explain."

"What are you up to?" Addie asked, watching him from the corner of her eye.

She would probably reject him if he flat out told her he was trying to set things right so they could get back together. She'd call him out for being a pompous idiot to think he could get back into her good graces so easily. He tried to keep from lying. "When you left, you were this smart, innocent, good girl who I did not deserve but I was so certain you'd come back to me. After two months you didn't. Now, I either read you really wrong, which I don't want to believe because I've never felt like I've been so close to anyone else. I've accepted that you've changed but I know you; you'd never change so much as to become friends with Klaus, especially in that short of a time span. So there has to be some crazy explanation for what happened," Damon reasoned with a shrug.

"There is. Condensed version or full explanation?"

He gave her a crooked grin and tentatively asked, "Can you do the full explanation fast?"

"Is that your polite way of asking me to leave out the commentary," Addie challenged, turning her nose up at him.

"Mmhm," he confirmed, tapping her nose.

She inhaled deeply and rattled out as quick as she could, "When Klaus stopped invading Alaric he gave Alaric a letter from the London College of Music to give to you to give to me. I wasn't eager to open it because all the award letters had arrived two weeks earlier and figured it was a rejection. On your deathbed you made me open it and it was a scholarship paid for by Nik Mikaelson.

"I got to the airport and this man sat right next to me and introduced himself as 'Nik Mikaelson' or 'Niklaus' or 'Klaus.' He just showed up right there moments after you left. The scholarship was a _peace offering_. I could leave the airport with him then or I could meet up with him after the program. Either way, I wasn't going back to Mystic Falls until school started. If I didn't go with him, he'd kill everyone. I decided to take the scholarship. It turned out that Klaus had arranged for his sister Rebekah to be my roommate; all I ever got was that she was there to make sure I had a good time.

"If you found out about his blackmail, he'd kill you. I knew from the start that he would let me talk to you while I was with him because one of his goals was to generate pain in you by having you not know where I was and if I was ok. I tried to minimize that amount of pain and worry for you from the very start. I didn't talk to you as nearly as frequently as I wanted so you became accustomed to the idea of not hearing from me. I talked about Alex so much in an effort to make you jealous but portrayed him as someone as protective of me. The plan was you would be irritated with me for running off with some guy and not want to talk to me when I used him as a cover and have you think he was a good guy and I was probably safe despite not checking in with you. I didn't know from the beginning that Klaus would let me communicate with Jeremy. I also didn't know that Alex would turn out to be bisexual, giving you a more legitimate reason to be jealous," Addie explained, her stomach churning guiltily. Even though she had done what she thought was in his best interest, it didn't mean she felt good about doing it.

His fingers entwined with the hand resting on her stomach and gave an encouraging squeeze. Quietly he urged, "Go on."

"The day the program ended Rebekah hailed us a taxi to Heathrow and we boarded for a flight to Chicago. So, that's how I ended up in the same city as Gloria's bar. First month was a lot of shopping, a lot of zoos, a lot of museums, and three vampires playing with and usually killing their food. Klaus tried to take me to the Adler Planetarium but there was no way I was letting that happening; telescopes and stargazing was our thing. During that time Stefan was scoping out a witch that Klaus had gone to Chicago to ask about his problem turning hybrids. Turned out the witch was Gloria.

"Basically, Gloria told Klaus that she needed his sister to get an answer. What she really needed was Rebekah's necklace, which Elena had. Klaus and Stefan embarked on the mission of trying to drag Rebekah out of spa. I wasn't stupid enough to try and do that. So I waited for them at the bar and that's where you came in," she finished simply.

As he digested what she told him, Damon brushed his lips along the back of her hand. He hadn't gone completely nuts, nor had she; there was a perfectly sound reason for how she ended up with Klaus. He slowly tried to understand, "The best way to keep me from worrying about you, in your mind and original plan, was to make me jealous that you had run off with a gay foreign guy that seemed likeable? And you stuck with this plan even when he turned out to be not-so-gay?"

"Not one of my better plans, I will admit."

"You are _so_ lucky Klaus let you keep up your facade by talking to Jeremy," he breathed out. "Missing you took up 90% of my time. When I thought you had run off to explore your feelings for Alex all I could think about was you, even in sleep. I tried distracting myself with your sister and Stefan but you were always on my mind, Ads. If I wasn't getting updates from Jeremy on how you were fine and having so much fun in Milan and Rome and everywhere else you lied about, I would have gone insane tearing Europe apart trying to find you."

Addie rolled her eyes and huffed, "What should I have said that would have made you feel comfortable not hearing from me for six weeks?"

Damon took several minutes to think about that before conceding, "Yeah, there is nothing you could ever say that would make me be ok with not hearing from you for that long. But making me jealous?"

"I thought you wouldn't _want_ to talk to me if you knew I was interested in someone else," she confessed meekly.

The fingers of his free hand drummed repetitively against his chest as he considered her defense. "Fair enough," decided Damon. "I can see how you might think that but I'm a fighter and would not lose you to someone like that. I would only want to talk to you more. Even if it was just to be the nagging little voice that reminded you that while I was ok with you _experimenting_ in Europe, you were mine as soon as you got back."

Indignantly Addie reminded him, "I'm not a possession."

"No, but I am very possessive of you," he winked.

"I've notice," she remarked dryly.

"You wanted to stay with Klaus," Damon accused quietly.

She moved to cup his face and turned him to face her. Staring into his shocking blue eyes she spoke clear and deliberately, "I am so lucky to have someone love and care for me the way you do. You went to Chicago with the goal of saving Stefan but as soon as you saw me that changed. Getting me to safety was your number one priority. The problem with that was you didn't care Klaus was going to go on a slaughtering spree if I left with you. You were determined to save me. I cared about everyone who'd die though so I couldn't go. Unfortunately the only way to get you off a rescue mission is to break your heart. Telling you I wanted to stay with the dangerous, volatile hybrid, your immortal enemy, rather than go to safety with you seemed like it would probably smash your heart. I didn't want to hurt you that badly but Klaus was gonna show up at any moment, you had left my sister somewhere in the city and I couldn't have the two of you ending up dead. When you left me at Gloria's I was stupid enough to think that you would leave town."

Damon turned from his touch and tucked a head behind his head as he observed, "So, again, your plan was to hurt me."

"It's not my fault that you're a stubborn dick who won't listen to reason? I mean, how many people told you not to open the tomb?"

He brought their clasped hands to his forehead and rubbed at his temple with his thumb and stressed, "Completely incomparable. Ads, you are everything to me. You were in danger. Instinct to save you overrules reason because I honestly don't know what I would do if I lost you. i'm a whole mess of problems when I think of eternity without. You already know that what I had with Katherine was blind devotion. You know I cared about your sister and lusted for her. Both times I had mistaken that for love.

"We concluded love is desperate and pathetic and when you're in love there is nothing you won't do for that person. Love makes you want to be a better person, someone worthy of who you are with. That's true love. That's what I have with you. Ads, you can't say there isn't anything I wouldn't do for you because I am desperate and pathetic when your safety and happiness is involved. You have to manipulate me and hurt me into stop focusing on that. Unlike everyone else around here, you just accept me for who I am and don't try to make me into someone better; still, I am naturally a better person being with you," confessed Damon, rolling over and brushing a stray strand of hair out of her face. He noticing how she still tensed when he explained the way he felt about her. It had taken her a lot to accept the idea of love being real. While she no longer flinched when he told her he loved her, she wasn't comfortable with the full declaration and explanation.

Addie chewed at her lip nervously, uncertain if she should lean into the fingers brushing her cheek or swat his hand away. Skeptically she inquired, "What are you getting at?"

"You know I don't too well with apologies," he sighed, running his fingers through his hair.

"Oh!" she gaped dramatically. Addie smirked. While she now had an idea of what he was up to, she wasn't going to make things any easier on him. It had been hell since he had broken up with her; Damon didn't get off that easy. "So, that's what you're trying to do. I thought that was such a foreign concept to you that you wouldn't know how to do it."

He scratched uncomfortably at the back of his neck and quietly admitted, "I don't, really. But I'm willing to make a fool of myself if it means I don't lose you."

Addie tucked her hands behind her head and crossed her legs, embodying the idea of comfort. She smiled at him smugly. "My royal court happens to have a vacancy for a fool. If I enjoy this, you just might get to join that court," she jested, baiting.

Damon sucked in air between his teeth and clicked his tongue. "I don't know if I want to be part of a royal court, _your majesty_ ," he winked, playing along. Addie had lasted surprisingly long before acting her quirky self. It had once driven him insane but it had quickly become one of her most endearing qualities. "Who would I be joining on this court?"

"Well, Jeremy is my right hand man, of course," Addie quickly decided as she thought over the other positions. "Bonnie is obviously the court mage and apothecarist. Alaric was recently appointed as the Chief of the Guard and Intelligence; we have him acting in a double role. Stefan was dismissed as our court chaplain when he disregarded his saintly ways to be have like a heathen. Elena is obviously the royal courtesan. Caroline if the official court herald, or messenger. Rebekah is my maid of honor though sometimes she forgets her place. And Klaus is viceroy of a neighboring territory that has caused us great strife," she rattled off, quickly assigning roles. "As you can see, I am in desperate need of someone who can make me laugh on my court."

"Yes," Damon murmured in agreement, going back to stroking her hair. It amazed him how she could so simply and accurately position every person in her life on an imaginary court in a matter of seconds. Though, she had made a mistake as casting her sister as a prostitute but he wasn't going to argue with her on that. Defending Elena was one of the stupidest decisions he could make at that point. Amused he beseeched, "As fool is quite a demeaning term, if I prove myself a worthy one, can we have my official title be Court Jester and just keep the fact that I'm a true fool between you and me?"

She hummed in mock contemplation and in a regal voice declared, "Yes, if and only if you prove that you are a true and worthy fool. Head, the amount of time you take to prove yourself will factor into your assessment."

His brows furrowed, little creases forming between his eyebrows. "Wait, am I supposed to quick and to the point or long and wordy?"

"Your decision that is, young Jedi," Addie answered in her best Yodda imitation.

"Ok, I need a little help here. Are we doing medieval courts or sci-fi futures?" Damon laughed. And there was her impressive ability to stay on one topic for an extended amount of time.

Her eyes roamed over him repulsion and disbelief as she protested, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Excuse me but did you not read the opening credits? Star Wars was 'long, long ago,' making both subjects things of the past and not completely unconnected like you're thinking.

"I just don't see how you go from royal courts to Star Wars."

"Do you want me to explains the workings of my brains or do you want to start making a fool of yourself?" she asked challengingly.

Damon rolled back onto his back and pinched the bridge of his nose. There was so much he needed to say but he had no idea how to put any of it into words. With the obvious he started, "I know I let you down. And I know from the start I asked you for just one honest chance. I told you that you wouldn't regret it and obviously that's not true."

"That's _not_ true," Addie interrupted quickly. "I don't regret giving you that one honest chance. I was happy with you. If this had ended where I had lost your friendship, then I would have regretted it but it didn't."

His lips pulled into a smile. Being with her had been the happiest time of his life in over 150 years. Cautiously he continued, "Alright, well, now I'm going to be the selfish idiot I keep telling you I am because I just need one more shot, a second chance. I just can't lose you. I'm willing to take every single piece of the blame for the break up but it was b-"

"I would recommend not finishing that," she cut him off again. "You are far beyond being an idiot if you believe that any of that was my fault. How can you _not_ understand me picking the lives over everyone I care about, including you, over our relationship? I mean, I got that you were flustered and kinda on edge when you said that. I honestly figured you were bluffing about breaking up with me because it was just so damn irrational. Then you came back to the bar and told Klaus about it and I knew you were serious. In your warped reality, I'm sure you think I picked being with Klaus over being with you. In the reality of the real world, I picked suffering with Klaus to save your ass. If you want to be immature and refuse to see the truth, then you should just stop this _apology_ ," vented Addie. It was slightly cathartic to tell Damon what she had been thinking.

Damon was quiet for so long as he mulled over her words that Addie wonder if he had stopped the apology. Logic and reason ruled Addie's life, he reminded himself over and over, not emotions. She was protecting him, just like he was trying to protect her. It was Addie; of course, she would do something brave and foolhardy like that. She project a layer of such indifference but once you cracked her surface the well of affection and empathy she had for her friends and family was endless. It was the very first thing he was able to specifically identify as attractive in her.

He knew how much she hated Elena but she believed him and Stefan to be a threat to her safety so much so that she did and made whatever deals she could to keep them, or at least him, away from her sister. She was the one who told Bonnie not to despell the vampire torture device they used on the tomb vampires, with the plan of him and Stefan being captured. Then he couldn't figure out why on earth Addie saved him from that basement but when he saw her waiting for him on his porch that night, he didn't care how wrong it was, he just knew he had to kiss her. She had seen how dangerous he and Stefan were and she didn't want her sister caught up in that. Addie was willing to have Elena hate here, was willing to get blood on her hands, just to make sure her sister was safe. Yes, Elena was the one he wanted but he had just found her devotion so _appealing_. Maybe it was because how it reminded him of how he was with his little brother. He'd found her attractive before that but he could never say why.

"I never should have threatened you with our relationship," Damon finally concurred. "I once asked you not to do it to me and you haven't; I should have given you the same respect. Ads, I was the luckiest bastard to have you. It wasn't that I was just terrified for your life that I wanted to get you away from Klaus. I was also terrified of history repeating itself," he admitted so lowly she had to strain to hear him.

"What do you mean?"

Damon rubbed a hand slowly up and down his face, hating to speak the words aloud. He never should have mentioned anything. Quiet and quick he explained, "I was worried about you falling for Klaus." He could hear her start to snicker. Louder he continued, "I'm not being unreasonable, Addie. I've done more horrible things to you and your family and friends than Klaus has and you still fell for me. I don't think you can use Klaus killing Jenna as a defense because I killed Jeremy and he would have stayed dead if I hadn't gotten lucky with him wearing a magical ring. And I would have killed Bonnie after Emily destroyed the crystal if Stefan hadn't been there to give her blood. I tried to kill your uncle but that damn ring got in the way. Then I forced your uncle into giving up his life for Elena by threatening to turn you. I-"

"Are you going to list every awful thing you've done to the people in my life? I'm not sure I want to lay here that long," Addie butted in, moving to rest her head on his bare shoulder. He smelled like his cologne, ginger, cloves, and sandalwood, and the clean scent of soap still lingered. Had he thought she had romantically picked Klaus over him?

Not fond of how she could now see his face Damon grimaced slightly. He lamented, "I'm trying to make a point. I'm a _bad guy_ , Ads. Klaus is a bad hybrid. Right in front of both of us, when he was in Alaric, you said you tend to give the bad guy a little more credit than they deserve, You do it with me. You definitely did that with Elijah, but he didn't openly display how bad he was. You're doing it now with Rebekah and Stefan. I was terrified that you were going to do it again with Klaus. Klaus and I, we're not that different. If you fell for me, you could fall for him. It's one thing if I lose you to someone safe but to know you're with someone so unbalanced and unchecked…."

She rolled her eyes; they weren't getting into the Elijah argument again and Addie wasn't going to pick a fight over Rebekah and Stefan. They could bitch and bicker after they made up. Addie gently pressed one finger against Damon's chin, guiding him to face her. She gave him a small smile as her ocean eyes connected with sky blue ones. "You two are totally different, Damon. Stop shaking your head and let me explain. When you were just snatching camper from the woods like when you first got here, yeah. I might have said you two were alike. I've seen Klaus leave people a bloody mess for no reason, just like you. Then you-," Addie halted, realizing how something, "I'm actually not going to get into all the ways you two parallel each other because it's vaguely disturbing, just the big one. Your big mission in freeing Katherine 145 years later wasn't love, it was because you were lonely. Klaus' whole obsession with making hybrids is so he will never have to be alone.

"You stayed and fought the tomb vampires because you cared about my sister. You helped me play Katherine, which was not in your best interest, because you wanted to protect me. Damon, you do these ultimately selfless acts. I understand you when you do screw up; like when you slept with Rose, you weren't trying to hurt me, you were just trying to escape the difficulty of caring. Then when you killed that girl the night Rose died, I rushed over as soon as I saw the paper because being so sloppy and just leaving her body in the road and her car on the side when you were trying to keep a low profile and your desire for familiar and comfortable was an obvious sign that you got careless and something was breaking your heart. I'll admit that I never would have guessed that it was that you missed being human.

"Then you went back to being this great guy and this amazing boyfriend. And then you daggered Elijah because you were jealous that I trusted him so easily. Then you went along with Bonnie's plan to let me believe she was actually dead in order to convince Klaus she was. You told me not to go into the cafeteria. You promised me nothing would happen to her. You told me to trust you. I didn't listen. You didn't know that seeing her lifeless was gonna totally send my brain into a fried overload."

Addie tilted Damon's head down so she could rest her forehead against his, playfully brushing the tip of his nose with the tip of her own. She resumed, "Damon, you make _a lot_ of mistake but there is a good reasoning and rationale behind your honest mistake. When you _do_ act like the bad guy, which I haven't really observed since you were trying to open the tomb, you're bad with a purpose. When Klaus is bad, like when he held me hostage, there was _no_ point to that! Why the hell did he care if you suffered? He had Stefan. Why did he have to toy with giving Stefan his memory back in bits and pieces? There was not fucking need for that. When you do mean and evil things with no reason like Klaus does, then you're a bad guy, Damon. I didn't fall for a bad guy."

Damon's neck stiffened as he resisted the burning desire to kiss her. He wasn't sure if he hated or loved how well Addie understood him. It made him feel vulnerable and exposed but it was somehow comforting to know that she hadn't run off yet. The only annoying thing was that he couldn't read her as well.

His eyes slipped closed and he murmured, "How do you only see the best in me?"

"I just said you make a lot of mistake," she giggled.

"You know what I mean. How did you pick me? How did I get so lucky? How did I screw it up?"

"I drew your name out of a hat. You won the lottery," she joked, her voice sounding serious before truthfully answering, "And you got overprotective and jealous."

"Is it too late now to say sorry and have it make a difference?" Damon whispered tentatively.

Her lips pursed, almost brushing his. That wasn't an actual apology. "You can try and see."

He sighed and rolled his eyes. Sometimes he really didn't like Addie's games and wished she would just give him a straight answer. This time she deserved to put him through the wringer, though. His hand cupped her cheek and his eyes opened to meet hers as he professed, "Ads, I love you. I'm in love with you. You are my life and world. I don't know if you've noticed but I go a little crazy when it comes to you. You also drive me a little crazy but I like that. When I saw you in Chicago I flipped. I couldn't tell down from up. Two words kept screaming over every other thought I had: why and run. You were supposed to be _safe_. I know you hate when I get all alpha male but, love, it's _always_ going to be my job to make sure you're safe. You'll be 90 years-old and I'm gonna be doing checks on the staff and compelling them into taking extra care of you. Don't laugh. It's your fault for introducing me to this kind of love," he said defensively when she started to chuckle.

"No, no. It's sweet, if a bit stalkerish."

"To my credit, I wouldn't have to do stalkerish things if you were cool with marrying _me_ for a lifetime and adopting kids if you-." Damon inhaled sharply, realizing the deep inner thoughts he only let himself consider on the darkest of nights after a couple of bottles that he was confessing to. He turned his head away but could still feel her eyes burning into him as his face flushed. After holding his breath for as long as he could, he slowly, loudly exhaled. "Can we just forget I ever said that?"

"Is that what you want?" Addie muttered, a trembling hand pushing through her hair.

Apparently not. If she was going to stay broken up with him over this, he might as well be honest. "Part of me wants to be a selfish bastard and turn you when you're old enough and have you for forever," he mumbled. More clearly he continued, "Mostly, I just want you to be happy and I know that would _not_ make you happy. But see, before we even started this, we put a timer on it. We had to end this in 15 years, well, now we technically have less than 14 years since your 16th birthday has passed, all because of your biological clock. No offense, Addie, but sometimes you really overthink, overanalyze, and overplan things. You have always hated the idea of having kids; you plan on borrowing Jeremy and Elena's kids on the weekend and returning them when the time for actual parenting comes around. Let's look at the fact that you don't like the idea of marriage but refuse to have kids unless you can raise them in a two parent house; I don't exactly how that works and I've never questioned you because, hey, it's you and Addie logic doesn't make sense. However, I was stupid and desperate enough to agree to ignore the fact that you want none of that but still let you dictate that we end, no matter what, on your 30th birthday so you could have two years to find someone and three years for an engagement period and time to get pregnant. We have a fucking pact to break up so you can _possibly_ have kids that you currently hate the idea of by 35. I'm sorry, Ads, but it's a little ridiculous," scoffed Damon.

"So yes," he sighed defeatedly, "I'm sorry if I think breaking up if we're good together and making each other happy is stupid. Especially if we reach that point and you're still undecided, And especially when it's something I can give you. I mean, it doesn't have to be adoption. We have the money for in vitro if you want to do the whole pregnancy experience. The last time we discussed this you called a baby a parasite, actually a blood sucking leech to be more precise and oh, my god would you please say something!" he exclaimed, burying his face in both hands. Her silence was deafening. Damon felt like he was just digging himself into a deeper and deeper pit that would cave in as soon as he tried to climb out of it. He had to shut up before he went into all the reasons as to why it made sense.

Addie frowned as she had been stuck on one thought since the beginning. She looked up at the ceiling and said the seven words that seemed to be stuck on loop, "Our kids would be _so fucked up_."

"What?" Damon said in confusion, not expecting that kind of response.

"Consider it," she said in a very neutral, matter-of-fact voice. "With my genes I would be passing down ten types of crazy, some of them actual medical problems, others just as my… eccentricities. How do you raise a kid in the supernatural? 'Billy, I know your father barely looks five years older than you but you still have to listen to him when he says you're grounded!'"

He raised an eyebrow at her and smirked, "You don't think a kid would respect my authority?"

She rolled her eyes and lightly smack his hard stomach with the back of her hand. "You can't compel your child, Damon. Nor can you threaten them with physical abuse."

"I know that! Little Billy could still be 40 and know to respect his much younger looking father."

"Mhm. Then how do you explain to your grandson and your great-grandson? I mean, when does it stop? I'm not convinced it's even a sane or safe idea to raise a kid aware of the supernatural world considering all the hell and trouble that's come into my life from it."

Damon slipped his hand under the dark top she wore and rubbed back and forth above the hem of his boxers. She untensed a little, sinking further into him. Calm and gently he told her, "In your life's defense, it wouldn't be so hazardous if your sister wasn't a doppelganger and you weren't born where I thought Katherine was entombed."

"Thanks." she said dryly. Addie felt the need to point out, "You haven't apologized yet."

"That's it on this subject?" he asked in mild surprise.

"Damon, we lasted, what? Five, six months before we broke up? I'm not discussing _one day_ short of 14 years into the future. I'm getting bored," she informed him impatiently.

Whatever she wanted, whatever she wanted. He was hardly going to argue with her when he was trying to win her back. Where had he left off? "Right. So, you were in Chicago and my instincts to do anything I had to in order to protect you. You wouldn't listen to me when I said 'let's go' so I panicked and thought using our relationship would make you listen. When that didn't happen I became pretty pissed off and told Klaus we were broken up, meaning I went through on my threat. I wasn't listening to you when you were telling me why you had to stay and once you said you _wanted_ to stay, I just saw red. It didn't occur to me that you were doing what you thought was the safest thing for everyone involved. I'm sorry, Addie. I should have listened to you from the start. I should have stopped and taken the time to understand you as well as you read me. I'm so sorry I broke up with you. Now that I've listened and heard your side I've realized just how colossal my mistake has been. Will you forgive me for being such an idiot?"

She nodded against his shoulder. It was pathetic how easily she would accept his apology. Klaus may have held her hostage in the summer but Damon was the one who'd truly had her hostage, at least since she saved him from the fire. He had her by the heartstrings. Her emotions were so intertwined with him that it was disgusting. Addie hated that breaking up with him had left her so miserable that she was willing to take him back without a second thought. There was no doubt she would be happy with him again but how long would it be before the other shoe dropped and they broke up again.

Damon lightly kissed her forehead and begged, "I know you agreed to one chance. And I know I don't deserve another with a girl like you. Addie, you've gotta give me one more shot not to screw this up. Please, Ads. I miss you so much. I hate being together but not _together_. It just makes everything so much more painful. I can't hold you properly. I can't kiss you. I'm watching everything I say and I'm tense. Ads, you were the person I turned to when I'm tense. What am I supposed to do now?"

"Hear me when I say this," Addie said firmly. If Damon was going to keep her emotionally hostage, she wasn't going to suffer like she had been nor was she going to be yo-yoed around. "You get one last try. You know I will only break up with you for cheating or abuse, otherwise I believe in sticking it out until it works out. So barring those two things, I will not break up with you until we agreed to." They could argue about the arrangement later. She continued warning, "The next time you end things, that's that. There will be no more third attempts, no getting back together. This is your last chance."

Cautiously optimistic Damon angled his lips a breath above hers and hopefully asked, "Does that mean you're my girlfriend again." She hummed in confirmation and he couldn't help the grin that spread so wide his cheeks hurt. "Good," he murmured seductively, "because I have been really wanting to do this.

Expecting a kiss, Addie squealed and squirmed in surprised when Damon used his speed to move her beneath him and yank one of the two pillows he had been using from under her head and tossing it over his shoulder and somewhere across the room. "Damn it, Damon!" she scolded, lightly smacking his bare shoulder as he hovered over her, his weight resting on his elbows. "We're not even together two seconds and you're already cheating!"

There was just something so satisfying in knowing that he could annoy her with such a simple movement. As long as he remained able to startle her he'd always be able to fluster her and if he was always able to do that, then he was always able to calm her down. He smirked at her devilishly; he could push her buttons just a bit more.

"You know, I am wounded that you would accuse me of cheating. Did you not just tell me you would break up with me if I cheat on you? Do I really look that stupid?" he whined, jutting out his lower lip in a pout.

Her eyes briefly narrowed at him before she snapped, "Shut up. You know exactly what kind of cheating I mean. No vampire advantages!"

"Oh, _that_ ," he stressed in fake enlightenment. "Oops," he said innocently, giving her a small grin and lift of his shoulders.

Smiling at him just as innocent, she contemplated, "I never specified what type of cheating I would dump you over. Technically, I could end this right now and never break my word."

"Not funny," Damon enunciated slowly.

"Neither is you using your super speed," she lectured, a stern finger point in his face.

He used just a little of his speed to catch her unsuspecting finger gently between his teeth. It wasn't his fault that Addie had set herself up to be so easily baited again. Damon could see her getting ready to berate him again so he quickly released the digit, caught her hand with his and pinned it slightly above her head.

"You led yourself right into that one. You should know by now not to stick a biteable object in front of a vampire," snicked Damon, enjoying the way her cheeks flushed in annoyance.

"Dick," she muttered as she stuck her tongue out at him, the little happy yellow bunny onto her tongue ring smiling up at him and informing him that he sucked.

Damon resisted a groan; he doubted Addie had even considered just exactly how she could torture him with that bit of metal and her tongue. Not that he would ever consider letting her do the majority of inappropriate thoughts that ran through his mind.

"Be nice," he tease. "We don't want to start this relationship on a bad note."

"You started it," she pouted.

"Mmm. That is true," whispered Damon, his lips hovering over hers. "I promise to make it up to you." Their mouths barely brushed. Her was like the missing piece of a puzzle he had been search for all summer and it took every ounce of restraint to keep from fitting the pieces together. "Better?" he breathed softly.

Addie shook her head slightly. "Oh, no. I mean, it's a start but you're going to have to do much better."

His kiss was so gentle, tender and almost hesitant that it made her breath catch; it was like the very first one they had shared that night of the fire. Damon grinned, understanding her reaction. His mouth was minty, and his lips were smooth, and Addie lost all sense of time and place as she slowly kissed him back. He pulled away for a moment, looked into her eyes as they opened, and kissed her again. It was different this time—deeper, full of need. Her arms were heavy and light all at once as one twisted around his neck, pulling him closer. She had missed this. She'd almost forgotten how much she liked being kissed by him, liked the smell and the taste and the feel of him. His arm slipped under and around her waist and Damon held her tightly to him as his lips moved against hers. She put a hand on his shoulder, her fingers digging into the muscle that lay beneath.

Addie groaned and broke away from the kiss as her phone started to ring. It was actually rather surprising that she had made it past noon without someone calling and demanding where she was. Damon let out a soft groan and took her arched, exposed neck as a silent invitation. She fought to keep her voice firm and steady as his teeth grazed her skin, "I should get that. The phone, I mean."

"Probably," he muttered. Carefully, he closed his teeth over the spot where her blood thrummed and pounded, his breath warm on her skin.

Her lips pursed together as she focused on the annoying ringtone rather that the way his tongue flicked in time with her rapid pulse. Addie tried not to let herself notice the way his chest seemed to have become more sculpted and defined over the summer as she gently pressed at it. "C'mon, Damon. I can't answer if you don't move."

Snickering, he slowly kissed his way back up her neck and nipped lightly at her earlobe. "That's the funny thing about phones; if you wait long enough," he paused until the room became silent again and with a firm finger he tilted her head in the other direction to give the other side of her neck the same treatment, "they eventually shut up."

When Damon's phone began to go off, Addie brought her shoulder up to her ear, blocking him off. "Will you answer that?" she huffed. "How likely do you think it is that we'd get calls back to back unless it was important?"

"And this isn't important?" asked Damon, kissing her intently.

Again she turned away from his kiss. Pushing at both his shoulders, she threatened, "If you don't answer the phone, you're not going to get to do that."

He gave a loud, pouting whine as he pushed himself from over her and moved over the nightstand. "You are so mean to me," he grumbled before answering the phone. "This better be important."

Addie kissed along the column of his throat as he listened impatiently. Chills ran down his spine and he gently brushed his lips across her forehead. He wasn't particularly in the mood to hear Alaric lecture him about Addie so he abruptly cut the other man off, "Do I seem like an idiot, Ric? I _know_ it's the second day of school. Do you think I'd let her skip the second day? I thought she was at school." Damon quietly listened to the other man as he made a funny face at Addie as she looked at him in mock disapproval. "Hold on," he said into the receiver, placing a finger over her lips. He rapped his knuckles lightly on his wooden nightstand. Quickly and quietly he kissed her before pretending to knock again and waiting a second. "She's a sleep," he lied, "and sick, judging by the mounds of tissues." Damon pulled the phone away from his ear as Alaric started to bitch at him but it was only Addie's gentle touch on his wrist and pleading look that stopped him from hanging up. He retorted sharply, "I'm guessing she didn't tell me anything because I'm _not_ her boyfriend, making it not my job to keep tabs on her or to heal her at every cough and sniffle." A brief silence. "She's _sick_ , Ric." A longer silence. "You know, I've found Addie doesn't respond too well to threats." Damon looked at the phone in confusion after not getting a response. He scoffed and looked at Addie incredulously, "Can you believe the bastard hung up on me?"

"Do you make it a habit of lying to everyone?" she wondered, scooting so Damon could lay next to her. Even awake it was reassuring to have his solid mass pressed next to her.

He brushed strands of blue hair out of her face and curled the soft locks around his fingers. "Ric's already pissed at me for killing him. I hardly need him pissed at me for failing to be responsible and letting you skip school or training. Plus, I don't exactly want a lecture now that we're back together," Damon explained. "It's not exactly like he's even happy that you're staying here."

It was easy to understand Damon's point of view when he phrased it that way. Addie nodded slowly and agreed, "True. I have a feeling lectures will be abundant when people find out. We really could just, you know, not tell anyone. Though, you really don't _let_ me do anything; I kinda do whatever I want."

"And do you have any idea how stressful that is for me?" he chastised, lightly taking her by the chin so she had to look him in the eye. "But Alaric does have the power to fail you and give you detention if you don't help with Illumination Night, as punishment for skipping school."

"But I'm sick!"

Damon snorted with laughter, "Yeah, apparently Alaric didn't buy that line. And if he did, well, he said a drop of my blood and you'd be as good as new."

"You know, I never liked him," Addie muttered bitterly, taking Damon's hand and tracing random patterns on it. She and Alaric were not going to get along if he tried getting all parental and authoritative on her. A few hours of volunteer work was a fair enough punishment for having skipped, though. But that wasn't really her fault; it was Damon's fault for not waking her up. That reminded her. Gently she asked, "This morning, or last night, or whatever, was that Stefan or Rebekah?"

Sighing heavily, Damon ran his fingers through his hair. "You know how I told you Ric's car spontaneously combusted?"

"Which sounds sketchy, even for around here," Addie nodded in acknowledgement.

"That's not quite _technically_ what happened. Remember Vicki Donovan?"

Her lips pressed into a thin, hard line as she sourly answered, "You expect me to forget one of the dead ex-girlfriends my brother is talking to?"

"Stupid question," Damon replied quickly, holding his hands up slightly. "What really happened last night is Vicki used some witch and her brother to get some kind of physical foothold here. She could interact with objects, touch stuff, do whatever she wanted, basically. Her bargain with the witch was that she had to make sure that the hybrids couldn't be allowed to survive which meant killing your sister. Vicki locked Stefan and Elena in the car and started it on fire."

He watched Addie as she had gotten out of bed halfway through his retelling and started pacing the length of his room. Gradually, her strides became longer and quicker. Spinning in front of the fireplace she pointed an accusatory finger at him and spat, " _You_ said there was no such thing as ghost. Now you're telling me one tried to blow up my sister?"

"I also said there was no such things as werewolves and Klaus. I know it is very uncommon and very hard to believe when it does occur but I am _occasionally_ wrong," he said patiently. "If you don't believe me, call Bonnie; she had to ju-ju away Vicki."

Addie took a deep, shaky breath. Her heart pounded irregularly against her ribcage and her hand trembled so bad she could barely run it through her hair. Damon might try to screw with her about ghost interacting with the real world to get back at her for one phantom bullshit thing or another but Bonnie wouldn't mess with her like that. It was Bonnie's shoulder she had cried into when _The Sixth Sense_ and _Paranormal Activity_ had somehow ended up on one of their girl's night watch list.

"Ok," she said unsteadily, her bottom lip quivering, "but what does that have to do with anything? Bonnie sent Vicki away; she can't hurt anyone anymore."

"No, Vicki can't hurt anyone," Damon confirmed, getting out of bed and walking over to Addie. His arms wrapped around her in a hug; holding her close to him as she shook like a leaf. She held him so tight around the waist he was sure her fingers were hurting. He rested his cheek against the top of her head and confided, "I think we have a bigger problem, though."

"What do you mean _bigger_?" cracked Addie's voice, a tear falling onto Damon's bare chest.

He hesitated, rubbing at her shoulders while one hand ran through her hair. Couldn't they just solve this one problem without getting Addie involved? Possibly, if he hadn't already opened his damn mouth. "Remember Mason Lockwood?"

"Are you asking if I remember the guy you tortured for hours and then ripped out his heart in the sake of gaining information, which you did not get?"

"First of all, I told told you to leave the house so you would hear it; it's not my fault you're a stubborn pain in the ass. Secondly, I should probably just save us both time and assume you remember every wrong thing every single person besides yourself has done," Damon snipped, a bit harsher than he intended to.

Addie rested her other cheek against his chest. His cool skin was ebbing the flood of heat that came to her face when she was upset. "Trust me, Damon, you do so many things that my memory can only hold your greatest hits. Do you have a point?"

"Well," he cleared his throat and rolled his shoulders awkwardly, "let's just say the, uh, _setting_ of this morning was very familiar."

She stepped out of his embraced and pinched the bridge of her nose. Addie began to pace again, not daring to look at Damon. "You mean to tell me that, as a ghost, Mason Lockwood decided to enact some twisted revenge on you?"

"Basically."

"That's not even possible," Addie stated matter-of-factly. "Anna and Vicki were here because Jeremy died and they were the consequences the witch spirits warned Bonnie about if she brought him back to life."

"Yeah, ok," nodded Damon. "Now, let's just say Bonnie screwed up when she sent Vicki away. Wouldn't be the first time she's gotten a spell wrong."

She turned sharply on her heel to glare at him and protectively snapped, "You wanna blame Bonnie because you're getting overdue revenge?"

"No, I'm blaming Bonnie because every time in 146 years, whenever I've killed someone they've stayed dead. Now she did her little spell and I have a dead, vengeful werewolf after me," he shot back.

"You _don't_ have some ghost after you," insisted Addie, a few tears leaking from her eyes. "You probably just-"

"What? Did I somehow tie and bind myself to a chair in my sleep and then throw open the curtain, too?"

Addie threw up her hands in frustration and whined, "I don't - I don't know but you did _something_. Ghost don't turn up six months later and decide they want payback. Vicki Donovan may not have liked my sister but her ghost would have tried to kill Elena! It just doesn't make sense, Damon."

Slowly he walked over to her and grabbed her hands. Damon tried to meet her deep blue eyes but she refused to meet his gaze. He crooked a finger under her chin and lifted her face until her water eyes had no choice but to look at him. Quietly he asked, "When was the last time anything made sense in this town?"

Her bottom lip grew bright red as she gently chewed at it between his teeth. That was a trap question. Admitting nothing was logical since he and Stefan had shown up was as good as admitting that what he was claiming was an actual possibility. Addie didn't realize she had begun to cry until one of Damon's hands was trying to keep up with swiping away tears as they fell. She watched him move to grab something from his dresser before he was quickly leading her towards the bed and pulling her into his lap. Just before the body wracking sobs overcame her, Addie managed to bury her face where the crook of his neck and shoulder met.

Damon slightly rocked her, held her tight, and made soft, soothing sounds in her ear as he let her cry out her fear. He knew Addie's problem with ghost was the same thing he had been considering all day; they couldn't physically be stopped. While Addie logically knew she stood no chance against a vampire or a werewolf or a crazed maniac with a chainsaw, she could at least fool herself into thinking it was possible because if it could bleed, you could kill it. Unfortunately, Damon had to agree with her on this ideology; he had no idea how he was going to deal with his ghost werewolf. The only person who seemed to stand a chance against the ghost was the source of the problem: Bonnie.

After a long time Addie settled down to the occasional hiccupping, gasping breath. Gently, Damon grabbed her by the back of head and pulled her away from his shoulder. He took the soft t-shirt he'd fetched from his dresser and lightly wipe the snot from under her nose before shifting to a clean part and blotting away the straggling tears. Blushing profusely, Addie took the shirt from him and rubbed at where she had been crying and the trail of tears left down his chest, all while muttering how sorry she was.

"It's ok," he laughed, taking the cloth back from her and tossing it to the end of his bed. Damon cradled both her cheeks in his hands and gently kissed her. "You can cry on me any time, love."

"I've been thinking," she mumbled, resting her head on his shoulder. "The vampire torture device that was used against the tomb vampires, I told Bonnie not to despell that."

"Yes, yes, I do recall the debilitating pain and being tossed into a basement and then sentenced to burn alive," Damon recollected dryly.

Addie's lips twitched towards a frown but she didn't. In her defense, she hadn't known she'd liked him that much at that point. Refocusing, she pointed out, "If we have a problem of vengeful dead…"

"That crossed my mind, too," he sighed, holding her tighter. "Maybe you should stay with Bonnie this afternoon; you know, volunteer with her at the Illumination festival. Or go off and help her fix this damn ghost problem." He didn't like the idea of leaving Addie alone but he was already the target of one malicious spirit and who knew how many more were going to come after him. Plus, Damon had no way of defending her. "If anyone can keep you safe, it's Bonnie."

"Ok," she agreed, reading the concern in his shocking blue eyes.

* * *

How Damon could argue he was a safer driver than her, Addie could quite understand as he came to a squealing halt in front of Caroline and Bonnie, holding bright paper lanterns to hang in the trees. He gave her a smirk but she just rolled her eyes as she got out of the car and walked around the car to meet up with her friends.

"Bye, Ads," he winked as she hugged Caroline but she only stuck her tongue at him in response. Damon acknowledged the other girls with a nod, "Greetings, Blondie. Witchy. I think you got your voodoo wires all crossed when you got rid of Vicki Donovan."

"What do you mean? Why?" Bonnie asked in confusion, setting the lamps down and moving closer to the car.

"Because I'm pretty sure I just got spit-roasted by Mason Lockwood's ghost."

She cocked her head in disbelief, "What?

"And why would you think that?" questioned Caroline.

"He's either having a _really_ bad acid trip or some horrible deja vu. He's convinced a ghost chained him to a chair and shoved a hot poker into his chest," Addie faked whispering, in a voice that said she clearly didn't believe him.

Damon nodded at her, frowning. "What she said except without the acid trip."

Caroline looked quizzically at Bonnie. "I thought you said that ghosts couldn't physically interact with people."

"They can't."

Addie bobbed her head knowingly. "I said the exact same thing."

"Yeah, well, I don't have time for a vengeful Lockwood. When I kill someone, they're supposed to stay dead. Whatever you screwed up, fix it," Damon ordered before his tires squealed as he peeled off.

"You missed school to be with Damon?! Didn't you guys break up?! Did you not hear me when I told you that he and Elena were like all over each other?" the blonde shrieked, her hands on her hips and a demanding note in her voice.

Addie lightly pushed past her and pulled her best friend into a hug. "Hey Bon," she said tentatively. Bonnie totally didn't deserve Jeremy speaking to his dead ex-girlfriends and she should totally say something about that but he was still her big brother and it felt totally wrong talking shit about him when he wasn't there to defend himself.

"I'm echoing Caroline's thoughts," Bonnie laughed lightly, sensing her unease and hugging her back tightly.

Breaking away, Addie held up her hands defensively. "It's not like that! I missed school because I was sick. The only reason I'm here is because Alaric threatened to fail me and give me detention if I didn't take the magical cure all that is vampire blood and get my ass down here to help. We did break up; there's nothing going on. Damon's just… _Damon_. Now, because he is just so kind and wonderful and loving, instead of jumping to this idea of Mason Lockwood, is it possible that Vicki's still floating around?" she asked hopefully. "I mean, she has just as much reason to haunt and hurt Damon as he does."

"Why do you think it's Vicki and not Mason?" Caroline asked, eyeing her suspiciously.

Bonnie and Addie exchanged dark looks of understanding before the witch explained, "Because if any ghost other than Vicki Donovan has a physical foothold on our side, then that means Damon's right and something has gone really, really wrong." She stared at Matt Donovan as he worked the opposite street corner as them. "It took a lot for him to send his sister away. It's not Vicki."

"Really, how bad do you think things would get if we just assumed it was Vicki and let it be?" Addie inquired, trying to sound more casual and carefree than she felt.

"When does ignoring the problem ever work?"

The vampire snorted, "You're one to talk."

"Not now, Caroline," snapped Bonnie. She wasn't about to discuss her situation with Jeremy right in front of his little sister. When she went to grab her bag from the ground the strap came off and it fell open. Her grimoire slid out of it. Groaning in frustration, Bonnie bent to pick everything up when the spellbook flew open to a page on its own. Carefully, she picked up the book and read the open page.

Addie crossed her fingers, closed her eyes, and prayed, "Please tell me that's a recipe for witch cookies."

"It's a manifestation spell," Bonnie breathed. "It's used to reveal veiled matter."

Over the youngest girl's whimpering Caroline asked, "What's veiled matter?"

"Ghost."

* * *

The stairs of the old, abandoned witch house creaked as they descended the stairs. Addie couldn't help but wrap her arms around herself tighter. The place never use to set her teeth on edge; perhaps it was just the quiet or that it was only her and Bonnie.

The witch gave her best friend an apologetic smile as she sensed Addie's nervous energy. "Sorry, I know it's creepy, but we needed a private place around here to do the spell," she apologized.

"Uh-huh," Addie answered distractedly, bouncing on the balls of her feet as they stood in the center of the basement. "Is it just me or it like 500 times creepier now that there aren't spirits of the hundred dead witches who were horrifically burned to death in this very spot?"

Bonnie shrugged, "I guess they offered a sense of welcoming peace. Well, not to Damon. They made his ring stop working every time he came in here."

Damon and Emily. Damon and Bree. Damon and Bonnie. "I don't think he gets along very well with witches," Addie thought. "So, when we reveal this matter, there's like no chance of seeing 100 burned ghost witches?"

"Since I brought Jeremy back to life they're not here anymore."

"The spirits aren't. But what about the ghost?" Addie said slowly, stressing the difference.

The witch rolled her eyes. "They're gone and they made it clear they were never coming back. Relax."

"Sure, ok," Addie nodded, taking a deep breath. "Pinkie promise?"

"How about you just light the candles?" sighed Bonnie, pointing to a shelf that held several white, wax cylinders.

Next to the candles was a box of matches. Grateful for something to do, Addie placed the six candles so they were evenly spaced around Bonnie in a circle encompassing the room. Each match she struck and blew out left a distinctive burning scent in the air. Addie knew Bonnie had just given her something to distract her when she heard the other girl chanting as she struck the match to light the fifth candle but continued to finish with her tasked.

When she finished, she turned and looked at Bonnie, a hand running nervously through her hair. First a gentle breeze blew through the room, making the flames flicker. Again, Addie protectively wrapped her arms around herself. A more powerful, loud gust kicked up, sending dust through the air and rattling window panes.

"Bonnie, I don't like this," Addie called over the noise. Suddenly someone was grabbing the witches hands and she was hiding behind a shelf, her eyes screwed shut as she screamed. Addie wasn't certain for how long she cried out but when a hand landed on her shoulder her eyes flew open. At the sight of Bonnie's very dead grandmother, Addie jumped further behind the shelf, knocking an empty paint can to the ground.

"Calm down, child. I'm not here to hurt you," instructed Sheila Bennett.

Addie's screams dropped to terrified whimpers and groans of disbelief as she moved slightly from behind the shelf so she could watch Bonnie and her grams talk.

"A fine mess you've made, honey. The witches told you there'd be consequences to bringing Jeremy back and you did it anyway," Grams lectured, a hint of disapproval in her voice.

Bonnie shrugged and shook her head insistently. "I didn't have a choice. I love him and I...I couldn't just let him go."

"I understand. But you cracked open the door to the other side. There's an old witch over here. She took advantage of it. She took advantage of you, honey. When you did that spell to send Vicki Donovan away, she wedged the door wide open, giving a free pass to anybody with unfinished business."

Addie suppressed a high squeal; they knew far too many dead people with unfinished business.

"How do you know this?"

Grams smirked and knowingly said, "Witches talk. Even on the other side. Who do you think makes all the rules?"

No wonder Damon didn't get along with witches; Addie rolled her eyes.

"What does the witch want?" Bonnie asked in concern.

"That's Original vampire business, not yours. I don't want you getting in the middle of that," Grams instructed firmly. "I'm here because you upset the balance of nature. And it's your duty to set it right. You need to close that door."

* * *

Addie sighed as she waited for Elena to process her short reiteration of everything she and Bonnie had learned from Sheila Bennett.

"How do we do that?" Elena asked, referring to how they closed the door to the other side.

Her fingers flexed and unflexed into a fist; she was getting sick and tired of the damn necklace. "Apparently the old witch can draw power from this side because of her talisman," Addie grumbled. In fact, she was getting tired of all things Original related.

"Talisman… my necklace?"

"It's… you don't even want to know how complicated that damn thing is. I know you're not going to like this, but Bonnie needs to destroy it. Trust me, it's really in your best interest," she sighed, kicking at a raised nail in the floorboard.

Elena's voice lowered slightly as she hissed, "I just walked in on Jeremy kissing the reason for all this so I'm completely ok with that."

Addie's mouth dropped open in anger as she slightly snapped, "What? Are you kidding?"

"I wish. Look, I don't have the necklace. Damon has it somewhere. Text him. I've gotta go deal with your brother," Elena huffed, hanging up.

She scowled as she made to call Damon. It was so annoying how Jeremy was strictly _her_ brother and not _their_ brother whenever he did something wrong.

Thankfully he picked up on the second ring. Addie didn't waste time with words as she got to the point, "I need to know where Elena's necklace is."

"I am never going to hear the end of that damn necklace," he groaned.

Smugly she told him, "Yeah, you are because Bonnie's going to destroy it. Where is it?"

Damon clicked his tongue against his teeth. He stole the necklace back from Katherine. Came back to Mystic Falls. When he got to Mystic Falls Addie was back and that had pretty much been the only thing he'd given a damn about. He wasn't exactly sure where the necklace ended up. Shit. With almost certainty he answered, "It's in my room."

"Damon," Addie said slowly, trying to be patient, "I don't know if you've realize but your room is the size of a small house. That's not exactly helpful."

"I don't exactly know where it is. Just look for it. Try the pants I was wearing the night you came back," he suggested.

"We need this to destroy the ghost problem and you don't know where it is?" she ground out through gritted teeth.

"I know it's in my room! I'm sorry if I've been distracted by more important things than _your sister's_ necklace."

Groaning, Addie hung up on him. When Bonnie cleared her throat, Addie turned around to face her, a sarcastic smile on her face. She slid her phone back into her pocket and clapped her hands together, rubbing them together in false excitement. In a singsongy voice she told Bonnie, "We get to go on a scavenger hunt."

* * *

"So, this is Damon's room," Bonnie said obviously as she stood in the doorway.

"Yep." Addie glanced at her as she opened the closet door and laughed, "You know, you _can_ enter and help search. Damon may bite but his room his is completely harmless."

Hesitantly the witch took a few steps into the room. "That may be but, uh, how quickly is he going to try and kill me for snooping through his stuff?"

"Good point," she called from the back of the closet, digging down towards the bottom of the hamper, "but you're quick enough to stop him with that exploding brain thing." Addie gave a small exclaim of triumph as she pulled out the right pair of jeans. Unsuccessfully she checked every pocket before throwing them back in the hamper with a growl of frustration.

"What's this?" Bonnie asked Addie as she came out of the closet.

Addie frowned as she saw that Bonnie was holding up the picture frame Damon had replaced on his nightstand. "It's a picture," she answered pointedly, moving to search through his dresser.

"Of you and Damon kissing."

"Believe it or not, we did do that when we dated," she muttered, her cheeks flaming red. Having rifled through his underwear and socks, she pushed his tumbler and decanter of scotch out of the way to check for the necklace.

"Yeah, while you were _dating_. Why's it up now?" pressed Bonnie.

The dresser rattled as she shoved the drawer back in much harder than she intended. Addie began digging through the second one down. "It's Damon's room. It's Damon's picture. Ask Damon."

Bonnie shook her head as she gently set the picture back down. "No, nu-uh. If you're defensive, he'll be downright pissy. You two have whatever screwed up little relationship works for you guys."

"There is no relationship," Addie insisted, pulling out her phone. Seeing it was Elena she curtly answered, "What?"

"Listen I need you to get Bonnie to hold off on sending the ghost back," her sister answered in a hushed tone.

She let her head fall to the dresser with a loud thump and groaned. "What now? You said you were in full support of getting rid of them."

"I was. I am. Look, Lexi's here and she's helping with Stefan."

" _Ohhhhhhhh,_ " Addie said in understanding, "it's all about Stefan now and you don't give two flying fucks that's Damon's trying to outrun vengeful ghost, which isn't exactly possibly."

It was a long moment before Elena finally answered, "Damon will understand. Damon can handle himself."

Always second place. She scoffed in disbelief, "Really? Seriously? Have _you_ figured out how to fight off a ghost?"

"Addie!" Elena pouted.

"Whatever," she muttered. "Let's just find it first and then we'll choose between all the boyfriend ghost dramas." And hung up.

"What are you talking about?" Bonnie asked warily as she watched Addie impatiently shove the second drawer close and start to dig around the one below it.

Addie ran an an anxious hair through her dyed hair. She really needed to mind her surroundings before she talked. Evasively she answered, "Lexi's back, so now Elena wants us to hold off on destroying the necklace until she can fix Stefan."

Able to tell she wasn't getting the whole truth, Bonnie placed her hands on her hips and pressed, "You said _all_ the boyfriend dramas. As in multiple scenarios. What is it, Addie?"

"Guess I called Damon my boyfriend. Old habits die hard, I suppose. Even though we're not together it doesn't exactly mean I'm fond of letting him be a ghost werewolf's chew toy," she answered dismissively as she finished searching the dresser and moved to search the nightstand on her side of the bed.

"You're a really bad liar, Addison Gilbert," Bonnie sighed, leaning against one of the post at the foot of the bed. "What aren't you telling me?"

"Uhhh," Addie stalled as she moved to look in Damon's nightstand now that Bonnie had moved. With a single breath of air she rushed out, "Elena caught Jeremy kissing Anna."

"What?"

"I'm sorry," she mumbled into the drawer. Addie pulled out the small rectangle wrapped in blue paper that had a gift tag with her name on it and set it on the nightstand. It didn't say who it was from but it must have been the gift Stefan had taunted Damon about coming into the room and leaving. She wondered why Damon hadn't given it to her.

In bewilderment Bonnie asked, "He _kissed_ her?"

"Yeah, well, my siblings have a problem with only wanting one person. Elena wants Damon and Stefan. Jeremy wants you and the ghost of his dead vampire girlfriend. I want - well, considering our parents never cheated on each other I find it confusing how I am the only one who was raised with a concept of fidelity," grumbled Addie as she shifted lotions, a deck of cards, a copy of _White Fang_ , votive candles, a couple of lighters, a small bag of either pot or oregano, a booklight, an old fashioned alarm clock, an original edition of _The Return of Sherlock Holmes,_ two pocket knives, chapstick, a collection of bookmarks and other miscellaneous crap. What the hell kind of problems Damon thought he was going to encounter in the middle of the night, she didn't really understand. Growing aggravated she shut the drawer with a loud _snap_ and turned to face Bonnie. Her expression and voice softened at the crushed and confused look on her best friend's face. "Look, I'm sorry my brother's an idiot. I promise I will help you rip him a new one, if you want. Right now, we have a bigger problem. Anna's got a foothold now, so she probably thinks that she's here to stay. But, Bonnie, we are going to find that necklace and send the bitch back to wherever the hell she came from."

With a small nod from Bonnie Addie went back to searching for the necklace, tearing Damon's room apart. She couldn't remember what, if any, jacket he was wearing that night so she checked the pockets of every single one in his closet. She checked under the bed, in the sheets, above the fireplace, and even in the soap dish. Though, after she had stolen the moonstone from there, Addie doubted he was ever likely to use that as a hiding place again.

Addie loudly stomped out of the bathroom, growled in frustration, and exclaimed, "Ugh! I give up. It's not anywhere in this room!"

Bonnie gave her a sympathetic smile when her phone started to vibrate. Checking her caller ID she saw that it was Jeremy. She exchanged a knowing look with Addie who marched over and snatched the phone from her.

"What do you want, you little two-timing dipshit?" Addie snarled into the phone.

"Addie?" Jeremy asked, sounding taken aback. "Did you find that necklace yet?"

She rolled her eyes and huffed, "Not that it's any of your damn business but no, not yet. Why? What's going on?"

"Ghost of the tomb vampires killed Tobias Fell. You might want to find that necklace before they start going alphabetically through Founding Families."

A hard lump formed in her throat as her mouth became very dry. She had known that the tomb vampires would come back, she just hadn't expected their "unfinished business" to be with the town as opposed to her. That definitely raised the stakes. They needed to find the talisman. Damon had been _so_ sure that it had at least made it to his room. Her dark blue eyes narrowed, anger flashing in them.

"Well, it's not where it's supposed to be," she whispered menacingly. "I'm fairly certain someone took it."

"Who?"

"Oh, gee, I don't know," replied Addie, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Who do you think, idiot?"

Jeremy was quiet for a moment before answering with conviction, "She said she didn't take it."

"And of course you believe her," she sneered, smacking herself in the forehead.

"You know what? Yeah, yeah, I do believe her," he said defensively.

Addie spoke slowly, careful to enunciate every word, "You spent all summer bitching to me about how Elena and Damon were flirting while Stefan and me were gone or broken up. Wake up and smell the hypocrisy, bro. You're even worse than both of them. Neither one of them actually cheated. You know, being a worse boyfriend than _Damon_ is saying a lot. I suggest getting your shit together before you lose everything."

With a grim smirk of satisfaction Addie ended the call and handed the phone back to Bonnie. She took it and eyed her younger friend critically. Sharply she said, "I thought Damon was, well, not a _good_ boyfriend because all you two did was bitch at each other but he seemed to make you happy."

"If you repeat this to anyone, he will find a way to kill you, witchy headaches asides; Damon was actually a great boyfriend. We just bitched because we knew the other wouldn't get all butt hurt or take it personally like everyone else would. It's easier to keep from getting really pissed off when you blow it off the anger in small little burst when it comes along. If Damon _doesn't_ do that then he gets all pissy and kills Alaric, tortures Caroline's dad, gets in a fight with Caroline, and then runs off with Katherine and bashes my brother's head in," Addie explained with a simple shrug. "He was never meant to be the knight in shining armor but that didn't stop him from being a great boyfriend. I just told Jeremy he was worse than Damon because _he_ thought Damon was a crap boyfriend for flirting with Elena. I, on the other hand, am not stupid and knew he was going to do that before I even left. It didn't bother me, though, because I know Damon and while he might screw me over in other ways, he's felt cheated on enough himself not to do it to me."

"That's… sweet."

Addie rolled her eyes and muttered, "Don't let him hear you say that. He won't be so _sweet_ then."

"You still like him," Bonnie stated sympathetically.

She shrugged; she wasn't going to deny the obvious. Her stomach twisted slightly as she lied, "We had our fun. I'm just glad we're still friends."

"Mhm," hummed Bonnie, not entirely convinced.

Addie was grateful to break away from Bonnie's unwavering stare when her phone started to vibrate. That relief was quickly replaced with annoyance when she saw it was her brother. Her answer was curt, "What?"

"I got the necklace," he sighed.

"You mean Anna gave you back the necklace," she corrected. Addie knew she was right when he didn't immediately answer. An anger ignited in her as she thought about the twice dead vampire whore who had kissed her brother. "Can you get it to the witch house?" Reluctantly Jeremy confirmed that he could. "Good. Get there now, before more people get hurt." Hanging up the phone Addie turned back to Bonnie, a small, pleading smile on her face. Far too innocently she asked, "You really don't me to go back to the witch house with you, right?"

"Seriously?" Bonnie grumbled.

Addie raised her shoulders, slightly curling in on herself. She felt guilty but that was just a really awkward situation she didn't want to put herself into. Meekly she confessed, "I know your grams is on our side but she's still a ghost and I still want to run and scream when I see her. This ghost stuff is just _so_ out of my league, Bon. Give me a few hybrids to deal with; at least I know I need to rip their hearts out or heads off."

"You're going to make me face Jeremy alone?"

"Wouldn't you rather do that?" she asked. If she confronted Damon about cheating on her, Addie definitely wouldn't want witnesses for that. Quickly she added, "Trust me, I'm pissed at my brother and we're probably going to have a huge fight over this but I don't know. I can't _reasonably_ talk to him right now and both of us getting on to him seems like we're ganging up on him and that just doesn't seem fair. Not that he really deserves fairness but two wrongs don't make a right and all that."

Bonnie crossed her arms and rolled her eyes at her best friend. She sighed, "You know, if you want to stay to make sure Damon is ok you could have just said that."

Her lips pursed despite the pang of guilt Addie felt. All day she had been concerned about the necklace, not how Damon was faring against a vengeful Lockwood or if more ghost had shown up to attack him. "I haven't even been thinking about him," she said truthfully. "I just really, really, really don't want to go back to a place that seems even more haunted now that it's _not_ haunted by the spirit of a hundred dead witches."

"You realize that makes no sense?"

"But, you see, it makes sense to _me_ and that's why it is referred to as 'Addie logic,'" she grinned.

"No," Bonnie said matter-of-factly, "Damon just calls it that because he was trying to… well, you were dating and he got something out of referring to it as that rather than just flat out calling you crazy."

Addie pouted and challenged, "What's so crazy about not wanting to go back to a place that scares the shit out of me?"

* * *

Addie slowly came to a halt as she maneuvered her Jeep through the trees and in front of the old Lockwood cellar. Four-wheel drive was amazing. She had tried calling Damon as soon as Bonnie left but his phone as gone straight to voicemail. Forty minutes later, after what she guessed was enough time for Bonnie to set the world right again she had tried again and he had answered, asking her to meet him here. When she tried to ask questions about what he wanted and why the old cellar Damon had only given her taunting responses about how she would have to come meet him if she really wanted to know. The bastard knew she didn't like unanswered questioned.

"Why am I here?" Addie sharply demanded, hopping out of the SUV and locking it.

"You are here!" Damon gasped dramatically, standing up from the top step that led underground. "It's about time."

Her eyes narrowed at him as she repeated, "Why am I here?"

"Cranky, cranky, cranky," he tsked. "We're waiting for Ric. I don't want to have to tell the story twice," explained Damon. More importantly, though, he didn't want to send Addie into the cave without knowing what was in there. Nothing had attacked Mason but that didn't mean there wasn't some horrible creature lurking there or something. Alaric was a little more adept to handle himself against something than Addie was.

"How come every time I see you you're covered in blood?" she scolded, moving closer and noticing the tears in his jacket and darker coloring around them.

He shrugged nonchalantly. "What can I say? I like to live life on the edge. At least the blood is dried this time."

Addie thumped her head back against her car; he was going to drive her insane. That reminded her. Accusatory she asked, "Do you just replace the word crazy with 'Addie logic?'"

Damon's frowned as his hands settled on her hips, keeping her pressed against the Jeep. He inhaled deeply and rested his forehead against hers. "Honestly," he exhaled slowly, "that is the most random question and I'm sure only Addie logic can explain how you came up with it."

"It's not that random. See, you're going to drive me crazy with all the stupid stuff you do and getting yourself hurt all the time. That led me to remembering that Bonnie said you just used 'Addie logic' instead of crazy because we were dating."

He scowled, "Why were you discussing me with Bonnie?"

"I wasn't. Well, not right then," she amended. "We were discussing why I didn't want to go back to the old witch house. We _did_ discuss you earlier because all summer Jeremy kept telling me what a crap boyfriend you were for flirting with Elena but then he kissed Anna so I told him he was a hypocrite and a worse boyfriend than you. Then I had to explain to Bonnie that you really weren't a bad boyfriend because _A)_ she was going to give me a lecture about staying with you and _B)_ she was going to do that head exploding thing to you. Either way, I'm aloud to discuss you with Bonnie! You discuss me with Alaric," whined Addie.

That was true and fair enough. It wasn't that Damon minded her discussing him or their relationship with anyone, it was just that everyone was against them being together at that point. God, he was getting almost as bad as her in getting them off topic.

"Alright, alright, your question wasn't that random," he consented, kissing each of her cheeks. "But, Ads, I started using that term long before we began going out. Also, I don't exactly have a problem telling you when you're being crazy. It's obviously been too long since I've mentioned that you drive me ten types of crazy if you've already forgotten that. Addie logic is a term used to describe something that only makes sense in your head. Sometimes I can follow along when you explain it, like how you got to asking this question, but other times, like when you try to explain why the guitar is a cliche instrument, I just don't understand you. Or like how you rationalized going out with me. I will never understand how you reasoned that one out," finished Damon quietly.

His lips gently brushed against hers at first and then a little more insistently. Her arms wrapped around his neck for support as her knees buckled as he teasingly nipped at her lower lip. Hearing a crunch in the grass, Damon quickly broke away from her. A moment later Alaric appeared from behind a tree.

"I volunteered with Caroline and Bonnie but then ghost decided to invade Mystic Falls and apparently that was more important to solve since tomb vampires were killing Founding Family members," Addie rushed out in a single breath, holding her hands up. "So, in my defense, I really don't think I should be failed or given detention for being sick this morning and then trying to save the town.

"Seriously, Damon?" Alaric scolded, gesturing at Addie.

He could feel his cheeks color as he felt the frustration he had been feeling towards Ric for the past few weeks start to surface. Damon snatched the flashlight off the ground as he headed underground. He didn't dare look at Ric as he growled, "Give me some credit. I would _never_ put her in harm's way. She does a fine job of that on her own."

"Didn't you have anyone else to call?" Alaric grumbled as he followed Damon. Addie was right behind him.

"Well, Addie's here," Damon stated obviously as he climbed through the hole in the bricks that he and Mason had made, "but she doesn't really count. I need a non-vampire to get in the cave, and as I said, I'm not putting her in danger, so you're pretty much the only one I trust to go in."

Alaric scoffed, "Well, you have a crappy way of showing that."

"Who do you think I am? Elena? I am perfectly capable of making my own decisions, thank you very much," Addie huffed indignantly.

"You spent the summer with Klaus without so much as letting anyone know."

"We'll revisit the idea of you making decisions once you prove you understand the concept of _self_ -preservation over self- _sacrifice_ ," Damon muttered sourly. He may have made up with her about Chicago but that didn't mean he truly approved of her decision His eyes rolled as her footfalls became heavy and dramatic. "Now stop pouting about it or you _will_ be like your sister."

"Give her a break," Alaric snapped at him.

Stopping short, Damon spun on his heel and turned to glare at the other man. "Look, if Mason Lockwood can get over the fact that I killed him, can't you cut me a little slack, Ric?"

"I shouldn't have to get over it!" he exclaimed. "I was your friend, Damon. You shouldn't have done it in the first place."

"Well! Sometimes… I do things I don't have to do," the vampire finished lamely.

Gasping, Addie clutched a hand over her heart and rested the other on Alaric's bicep. "Oh, my god. I would seriously accept that apology. The word 'sorry' is not in his vocabulary but that is _so_ close?"

"You mean accept the same crap-ass apology he's recycling from Mason Lockwood?"

Addie took a step back and shrugged. It wasn't her fault that she hadn't known that.

"Yeah, well, I didn't mean it with him," Damon said, giving Alaric a crooked grin. When the other man just rolled his eyes, he took that as a good sign and continued on down the tunnel. Eventually, he felt the ward come up that blocked him from entering the cave. Damon waved for Alaric to pass but stood directly in front of Addie when she tried to. The passage was so narrow that trying to get around him proved to be very ineffective.

"Damon!" she snapped impatiently.

"Could be a trap," he said casually, leaning against the invisible wall.

Addie crossed her arms and looked at him pointedly. "And you believe that so much that you let your best friend go in there unguarded?" she challenged.

His voice dropped to a whisper as he hissed, "I'm not in love with him. I wouldn't lose my fucking mind if something happened to him."

"You know, idiot vampires lay in the middle of the road and cause car accidents. I could die driving home from here. You can't protect me from everything."

Damon's lips pinched; he obviously knew that but he'd do his best protecting her from everything he could. Over his shoulder he called, "So was Mason screwing with me, or is there something in there?" No answer. "Ric. Ric?"

"I found something," he eventually replied in wonder.

"What is it?" Damon asked impatiently.

After a moment Alaric admitted, "I have no idea. Addie might be better with this than I am." Puzzles were more her thing.

Addie stuck her tongue out at Damon and took the flashlight from him. She shined it in the direction of Alaric's voice, eventually finding him around a curve. He glanced at her before nodding his head to high up on the cave wall. A low whistle came out as she took in the immense number of ancient cave drawings.

"I'm gonna take a shot in the dark and say it's pictographs. If we read it from left to right like we would a book," Addie said slowly, angling her flashlight at the far end of the cave, "that," three crescent slices descending and shaded in to varying degrees, "is probably it moon cycle, since we're dealing with werewolves, that stick figure person is a person and that big dog looking thing with a bunch of sharp teeth is a werewolf. Of course, I'm just guessing at the obvious. The rest of these scribbles look like nonsense.

"My god. To predate words in this area when would this have to have been carved?" she wondered in amazement.

"There are some words," Alaric informed her, waving her closer to where he stood by the wall. There were about seven words stacked one on top of the other. "They're runic script. The only possible people that I can possibly think of that came to the New World using runes were the Vikings in the 11th century but I never thought they made it all the way here."

"You know, something tells me that we are not dealing with a story from the Lockwoods."

"Mm-mmm," Damon agreed, from where he couldn't see.

Addie passed Alaric her flashlight and fished out her cellphone. "Until we can get back down here and photograph the whole story, we might as well start with the easiest thing. Angle both the lights on the list," she instructed, snapping multiple pictures of all the runes. When she done she put the phone away and took the light back. "Figuring out what those words are might be the first step in figuring out who wrote this story or how the hell it's suppose to help us."

* * *

 **A/N: Long chapter so it took two weeks to get it up. But yay! Damon got his head got his head out of his butt and they're back together. I think after all this time they need a ship name. So far Admon and Addimon have been suggested but I'm open to more. What do you guys think?**


	9. Chapter 8

Damon snapped open the heavy red curtains with little effect. It was still fairly dark out. He briefly debated making breakfast before recalling that Addie didn't particularly enjoy running on a full stomach. Of course. she detested being woken up at five in the morning but he wasn't about to start caring about that. That didn't mean he had to be an ass about how he went about doing that, though. Leaning over her sleeping form, Damon firmly pressed his lips to hers, gently moving his until she began to respond.

She groaned as he pulled away and he knew it wasn't about his kissing prowess. In the dim light he could make out her glaring at him through one partially opened eyelid. "What?" she growled.

"Time to get up," he grinned mischievously, pecking her on the cheek.

Addie glanced to the large windows before rolling away from him and pulling the cover over her head. "Sun's down; I sleep."

"It's almost 5:30; you train."

"Already discussed this with Alaric. I'm faster than him. Training starts at seven, when the sun is up," she grumbled, her words slightly mumbled slightly by the blankets.

"You don't run faster than me," Damon retorted as he snatched the blanket off of her. He balled it up and placed it at the foot of his side of the bed.

"Damon!" Addie shrilly squealed instantly, her arm reaching out as she blindly sought for the comforting warmth.

He snatched the pillow from under her head and tossed it next to the blanket.

"Oh, my fucking god," she snapped, bolting upright. "I'm fucking up. What the hell do you want, you fucking dick?" hissed Addie threateningly. Damon was still close enough to the bed for her to smack him in the stomach, perhaps a little bit harder than she typically would have. The bastard was already dressed. How long had he been up?

The summer had proved to be an interesting experience in seeing just how different Elena and Addie really were. It could be five in the morning and Elena would be ready to turn on the coffee maker with a grin on her face. Of course, Elena was a sleep by ten every night. She was a consistent morning person. Every night with Addie was like a mini-adventure. Addie _tried_ to go to bed at ten or eleven each night but a lot of the times she just didn't feel tired. Damon usually had to coax or bribe her into bed; offering to read a Sherlock Holmes story or some poems by Edgar Allen Poe usually worked. Nothing shocking about her locking the logical and the psychological macabre. The only time he put up with her all-nighters was if it was school related. Damon knew a losing battle when he saw one.

When he finally got Addie showered and ready for bed, it became sometimes became a chore convincing her to take her antidepressants and mood stabilizers. He only fought with her about the antianxiety medication when her stress was nearly tangible. It quickly made her act different in a very obvious way and if she said she didn't like feeling like that, then he didn't see when she needed as long as she controlled her anxiety. Unfortunately Addie didn't see why she needed any of her medications if she felt fine. No matter how many times or ways he explained it, she wouldn't listen when Damon told her that the meds were why she felt fine. On some level she had to know the truth; things always went to hell when she got off her meds. Whether it was that or to just make him shut up she would eventually take them. And that was when she took her sleeping pill.

If he had her in bed and set to fall asleep before eleven, he would read until then or until the sleeping pill knocked her out, whichever came first. Nine times out of ten Addie was still awake. The pill offered a short time frame in which it would put her to sleep and if 11:30 rolled around and she was still tossing and turning, which was most nights, Damon knew he was in for a long night. With how much she moved, he'd swear she had restless leg syndrome or something. And he couldn't sleep with her moving. Then by midnight she'd get bored and they'd both be frustrated so he would cave and talk about whatever nonsense she felt like rambling about. Her favorite topic seemed to be space and stars. Between three and five she would run out of steam and eventually fall into a fitful sleep.

Elena was just starting her day right as her sister's wound to a close. While you could wake Elena for any reason, Damon had quickly learned that you had better have a damn good reason for waking Addie. Food was usually a valid enough argument; however, running on a full stomach made her sick. Surprisingly, waking her up just to cuddle was usually good enough, too; though, there was no guarantee she wouldn't fall back asleep. He was more than lacking in an acceptable defense. Also, Addie seemed especially cranky since she hadn't taken her sleeping pill until about 1:30 and it had worked, meaning she was probably dead tired and had been in a really good sleep. It was partially his fault she had taken it so late. He had so missed kissing her. While she was good at it, and had proven she could be mind blowing at it when she was pissed off at him, her kisses were a bit timid and uncertain. Damon couldn't resist the small shake of his head; he still couldn't figure out how he ended up with the girl who had never been kissed. Now, with the tongue ring, she seemed even more unsure of herself. There was no trace of the confidence he had detected in Chicago. He'd let the make out session go so late because he was trying to draw that out of her… and because he had simply missed holding her like that. It hadn't worked and he wasn't entirely certain what he was going to do about that. But there were more pressing matters at hand.

"Your language makes me look like the well-mannered one," he remarked as he grabbed her hands and dragged her out of bed. When Addie slumped against his chest he knew she had every intention of going back to sleep; he'd seen her stand and sleep. Smirking, Damon slipped his hands under the oversized t-shirt she loved to borrow and lightly rested them at the dip of her waist, making her squeal and jump, pushing him away. He hadn't had any coffee yet and a chilled blood bag didn't really promote warm circulation, either. "Good," he chirped, backing towards the door. "Now that you're awake, I expect you downstairs and ready to train in five minutes."

"You're fucking nuts," she mumbled, turning back to the bed.

Warningly he informed her, "I am not above throwing a bucket of ice water on you, Addison May."

"The middle name, how terrifying," Addie mocked. She knew he wasn't bluffing. Damon knew being in wet clothes, even a wet bathing suit, when she wasn't suppose to be wet caused an unexplainable sense of anxiety. And what had she been smoking when she agreed to Alaric's training idea? Vampire always beat human, just like rock always crushed scissors. Not seeing the point, she demanded, "Why is this so important to you?"

"Last night, you implied I treat you the same way I treat Elena." Once hearing how that sounded out loud he added, "In a protective way, obviously. That's not the case, though. There are some things I can trust you to do because I know you're not going to be stupid and get yourself killed that I wouldn't let your sister do. Elena would wind up with either Rebekah or Stefan killing her if she stayed her. You know there's a line you shouldn't cross.

"Then there's the fact that I feel like I need to be a million times more protective of you and not just because of how I feel about you but because of how _reckless_ you are and how little attention you give to your own safety."

Damon sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed at his temples as he tried to figure out a way to keep explaining without offending her. The bed dipped as Addie sat next to him, her knee bumping his encouragingly. "Over the past year, you've really changed and grown up," he decided. It wasn't exactly the right words but it was close. "Your interest were kinda self-centered at first. You didn't _really_ care that I was using Caroline; you just wanted Stefan and me away from your sister. You accepted you weren't going to get rid of him that easily so you agreed to help me get Katherine if I promised to leave. You'd solve at least one problem. When Anna kidnapped Elena and Bonnie rescuing them was not your problem. You loved them but you told them to stay out of the supernatural shit. You didn't get involved with the tomb vampire mess; in fact, you're the reason John was able to use the vampire torture device. That was supposed to get rid of Stefan and me, who were threats to your friends and family in your opinion. But somewhere along the line you decided I was worth saving.

"But you still wanted to get rid of Stefan and me so you aligned with Katherine; you got involved in what you detested. Then you started to see we weren't the bad guys and your focus became on doing whatever it took to keep everyone safe from whoever you thought the bad guy was. You sacrificed your life on a kamikaze mission when Elena went to hand herself over to Elijah because she was scared to go alone. You were determined that Elijah be the solution to the little sacrifice problem. Yes, Elena was your sister but what was the life of one compared to everyone else, especially if he had a cure? Then Klaus shows up and you have to go and bait an insane maniac because I guess playing with Katherine just wasn't lethal enough. _You_ make plans on how to fight him and they are good. You're not just skating around this supernatural stuff anymore. I don't think I even need to go over this summer and your drastic move to save everyone.

Damon sighed and ran a hand through his hair before he stared at them. He guiltily admitted, "I kinda miss the girl that just looked out for herself. However, this caring, wickedly intelligent, strong, independent woman you've become is so amazing, but you scare the shit out of me now. I'm constantly afraid you're going to get yourself into some dangerous situation.

"I don't expect you to walk around geared up like a vampire hunter but if you insist on joining Team Badass, I need to know that you can hold off a vampire long enough for me to get to you," he explained, gently grabbing her hand. "I can't focus on what needs to be done if I'm terrified that you're going to get hurt. So please, Ads, train for me."

* * *

Rebekah shook her head as she watched Addie dump the mashed banana into the large mixing bowl already filled with whole wheat flour, almond milk, beet juice, and apple cider vinegar. She propped her chin in her hand and studied the younger girl's determined face. There was something less than innocent in her cerulean eyes. Confused, she reminded, "Vampires live on blood."

"Really?" Addie muttered in fake awe as she added the baking soda and salt. "Because I thought you guys were chowing down on McDonald's all summer, not people."

The blonde rolled her eyes at the sarcasm; she had gotten use to it by now. "Between both your attitudes, I don't understand how you and Damon got along well enough to date."

"We fought the entire time. You can ask anyone," she answered dismissively. No one really knew how well they got along behind closed doors or that the fighting was why they worked. She added the cane sugar, pure vanilla, and cocoa powder.

Rebekah sighed heavily. "I'm really confused. My understanding was that we were hating Damon for breaking up with you. However, you're sleeping with him and baking him a cake."

"We are _just_ sleeping," lied Addie. "He's convinced you're gonna kill me in my sleep."

"You know that's just an excuse to get you in his bed, right?"

Addie paused in mixing the batter as she looked for a good defense. She shrugged. "I know. But his argument made a lot more sense before Elena locked Stefan up. With no humanity, I wouldn't put it past him trying to kill me."

"Niklaus ordered him to keep you safe," Rebekah said slowly, watching Addie for any reaction. Her face paled and the vampire continued, "His first priority is to protect Elena but he's also supposed to keep you safe. Niklaus threatened to dagger me if I hurt you."

"What," growled Addie, stirring more aggressively, "is your brother's obsession with me?"

"He thinks he knows something about you, that you're the answer to some kind of problem or curse. That's all I know. All Niklaus will tell me about you is that whoever or whatever you are relates to Alexander, a vampire hunter I was too marry. Somehow he knew all about my family and one night he staked all my siblings with white oak ash daggers. Alexander and his four friends were all killed by Niklaus before he undaggered us. That's how we learned the daggers didn't work on Niklaus," she explained, sounding distant. With a shake of her head Rebekah returned to the present. "I have no idea what you might have to do with an Italian man from 1114."

The spoon clattered loudly against the rim of the bowl as Addie let go of it. "That's just _lovely_ ," she snapped, picking up the various measuring devices used and taking them to the sink. As she began to wash them, Addie scowled, "Just when my life starts to get a little too quiet, in comes your crazy brother with another one of his problems/curses. He's probably keeping me alive for a future human sacrifice."

"I don't know," Rebekah admitted. She did know her brother was a much less interesting topic than gossip, though. "Are you going to tell Damon you're safe from Stefan and me and can sleep in your own room like a big girl?"

She considered it as she finished the dishes. "Klaus is a bad topic between us. Right now his focus is preparing me for when vampires take over the world. If I let him know that Klaus _wants_ me alive his focus will be locking me in a tower and then get himself killed trying to kill your brother. I'll take vampire bootcamp. I'd rather not be locked in room for the rest of my life." Addie shrugged innocently when Rebekah raised a suspicious eyebrow at her. "Plus he makes for a really good pillow."

"You still like him."

"No. That doesn't mean he doesn't still posses a certain sex appeal, despite being an annoying bastard."

"Yeah, uh-huh, so why are you making him a cake? Again, vampires drink blood."

Addie glared at the other girl and seethed, "He put protein powder in my pancakes."

Rebekah cocked her head and concluded, "You don't understand how being mad works."

"Yes, I do," she countered with a wicked grin. "Yes, Damon survives on blood but he loves to cook. He enjoys the taste of regular food. The problem that we have is that he likes to try and make food healthy for my benefit. I'm a very picky eater; we end up in a fight every single time he tries to sneak some fruit or vegetable into something. Just because he made the pancakes chocolate chocolate chip does not make it ok to add protein powder."

"So you make him a cake?" Rebekah asked again, not seeing the connection.

Addie sighed impatiently. She hated having to explain every single little thing. The batter neatly folded into the pan as Addie poured it from the mixing bowl. It wasn't a large cake; just a small, personalized one for Damon. Her attention distracted, her patience increased as she filled the vampire in, "My cooking skills are generally limited to coffee. Of course, I don't really try, I can follow directions, though; it a simple chemistry experiment. This particular experiment is tailored just for Damon. He _loves_ red velvet cake." She put the pan in the oven and set the timer. Addie steepled her fingers together and evilly said, "I'm destroying red velvet cake the way he destroyed his pancakes for me. I'm making him gluten-free, low carb, vegan red velvet cake. Well, not as low carb as the recipe says because I'm being nice and using real sugar."

"Yeah, you really suck at revenge," Rebekah decided, leaving the kitchen.

It wasn't really an act of revenge; it was making a point about not screwing with something that already tasted great. _Unless you meant to make it better_ , Addie smirked as she grabbed the can of premade white frosting and a spoon. From the kitchen block she selected a large, sharp chopping knife and set it next to the other two objects. She washed the mixing bowl and stirrer and then her hands before turning back to the objects she had just retrieved. Uncapping the frosting she angled her hand over it. Not giving herself time to think about it and with a sharp inhale, Addie sliced down the center of her hand. The blade clattered to the counter as a steady trickle of blood flowed from her hand, splashing against the bright white icing.

* * *

"Damon!" Addie spluttered, her eyes squeezing closed as toothpaste landing on the mirror and around the sink.

"What?" he asked innocently. Damon stepped out of the shower, grabbed the fluffy maroon towel on top of the toilet and wrapped it around her waist. "I'm decent. If you keep closing your eyes like that you're gonna give yourself a headache."

She tilted her head back slightly so more toothpaste wouldn't fall out and talked around it, "Di' 'ou not 'ear me say I was 'rushing my teeth?"

"I heard you," he winked, grabbing for his toothbrush but she swatted at his hand. Damon tried again and she did the same thing.

Addie spit a mouthful of red toothpaste into the sink and rinsed her mouth out. At his curious look she hinted, "You're not going to want to do that right now. Can you go put some clothes on while I clean up this mess you made me create?"

Sauntering out of the bathroom he teased, "See something you like?"

"Nothing I haven't seen before," she retorted as she lightly dampened a Kleenex and washed off the mirror. "If you were going for shock value, I'd recommend making sure you silently open your shower door; it gave you away.

"Duly noted for future shocking reference," he winked, returning to the bathroom in a pair of blue and black plaid boxers.

No man should look so good as he unsuccessfully tried to tame his hair. It didn't matter which angle he tried to brush it at, there were still always a few stray locks that fell over his forehead. One was long enough that it had a bit of a curl at the end. Damon would have no choice but to get a haircut soon. A bead of water rolled down his chest and stomach to the hem of his shorts but Addie quickly caught it with her finger before it could reach it.

"Determined to get into my pants before a single drop of water?" he teased, playfully grinning at her through the mirror.

Yes. "You wished," she scoffed.

The toothpaste fiasco cleaned, Addie went back into the bedroom and over to her nightstand. It was _their_ room again. One day while she was at school Damon had unpacked her from the summer and done her laundry. Somehow everything got put away in his room. Even her pajamas, which were technically his clothes were back in the second drawer, where they belonged. But that wasn't it. The most personalization and decor Damon had to the room was the photo of them; however, he had hung up the "Everybody Dies in Shakespeare" poster from London that tragically listed off everyone killed and how they died in the playwright's tragedies. Addie wasn't a poster person but she couldn't resist buying it as an avid Shakespeare fan.

From the empty bottom drawer of her nightstand she took out a square piece of unfrosted red velvet cake. She hid the butter knife and jar of vanilla frosting mixed with her blood until it it was bright red under her pillow. Sitting criss-crossed on the bed she waited for Damon. He'd be damned if he ever screwed with his mother's pancake recipe again. The tap turned on and she knew he was was washing whatever smoothing, straightening crap he used off his hands.

"Please tell me vampire boot camp takes a break on Sundays," begged Addie.

The worst part of Damon's training schedule was the running. Considering she was on the varsity track and cross country teams, Addie found that to either be a very bad sign for the upcoming season or Damon was being too intense. The furthest she had ever had to consecutively run at 100% was a 5k, or 3.1 miles, and her personal best was even 17 minutes. The vampire coach from hell was pushing her to do ten miles as fast and as hard as she could. The first morning she hadn't taken him seriously but when he became icy and bitchy and insisted that she run it again after school. Damon was unapologetic and only told her to do better when finished in 58 minutes and 17 seconds. He wasn't interested in her defense that she had to stop and throw up around the ninth mile. What was most irritating was him running with her. Addie had chosen track because it was a solo sport, unless she had to pass the baton to the next runner. _Damon_ wouldn't shut up when they ran. It was an entirely one sided conversation as she spent the majority of the time trying to properly breathe, Another annoyance was the pace he set and how he would snap at her, but not slow down, every time she started to lag behind. His running had made her sick three more times. What she didn't understand was _why_ he cared how fast she was; Addie was never going to be faster than a vampire.

On the plus side, Alaric had told Damon that Addie and Elena were at such different levels that he couldn't train them together. Finally, the archery lessons and going to the shooting range with her brother and dad had proven to be useful for something. Not being near her sister was a relief; Addie still wanted to smack her for hitting on Damon all summer. Her boyfriend's solution of training for hand to hand combat with an actual vampire was a disaster at best. She was grateful that Damon wouldn't use his full force on her and hurt her. Though, how was she supposed to learn anything if he used absolutely no strength and handled her like glass? In his defense, Addie wasn't really trying her hardest against him. It was highly unlikely but she didn't want to accidentally hurt him. It was something they argued about every morning session. Plus it placed them in some very compromising positions at times. She was fairly certain Damon was aware of the moments too.

The only part of her training with Damon that didn't drive Addie insane was the strength and agility training after the run from hell in the afternoon. She hardly noticed when Damon would exchange her dumbbell for a heavier one or add more weight to the barbell when she wasn't watching. Letting him keep track of reps and sets let her mind focus on other things and time flew by as they had deep discussion ranging from philosophy to politics to ethics and morality. Unfortunately he took the strength building a bit too seriously and trying to force as much protein into her as was humanly possible. Addie eventually consented to drinking three protein shakes a day and Damon insisted on preparing all her meals to maximize her protein intake. There was never a problem as long as he stuck to things she liked and didn't try to trick her, like by sneaking in protein powder.

Another benefit from Drill Sergeant Damon meant no more lying awake for hours at night. Whether Damon was with her or not, Addie was in bed by ten and asleep within thirty minutes. Six hours and fifteen minutes was not enough time for sleep but between all the training and homework from her AP courses, she couldn't make it to bed any earlier. She hadn't even found time to look up the runes they found in the cave. Still, she wasn't convinced the improved sleep was worth feeling like crap every morning. The aches and pains in her legs were almost gone but just as her upper body started to adjust, Damon would add weight.

Damon tilted his head from side to side in mock consideration as he grabbed the door frame of the bathroom, stretching his back. All the working out with Addie was leaving him tense, and not in a good way. The way his biceps flexed and how his smooth skin stretched over the broad expanse of his chest and expanded abs clearly defined the hard muscles underneath. The summer had been long and hard and his mind has envisioned Addie doing things that made him very jealous. If Damon worked out hard enough he could forget his brother was a slave to Klaus and he'd encouraged his girlfriend to be with other guys. He'd put on about 10 pounds of lean muscle without even trying.

" _Now_ I definitely see something I like," appreciated Addie, drinking in the sight of him.

There was a reason he hardly ever wore a shirt around her that had nothing to do with the fact that clothes were just a nuisance. He snickered as he let go of the frame and moved into the room, "I'm seriously convinced that you're only with me because of your fascination with my chest." Addie stuck her tongue out, holding the barbell with her teeth so the happy yellow bunny and the words ''you suck' were aimed at him. Damon crossed his arms and raised a challenging eyebrow. "You really want to do that when you're trying to convince me to let you out of training?"

"I fell asleep in Alaric's class last week! The only reason I didn't get detention is because I explained how you're the trainer I never wanted. I need sleep, Damon. And I want to work on my music. Please?" she begged, folding her hands under her chin in prayer and looking up at him with wide eyes.

"Why do you make it so hard to tell you 'no?'" he groaned, cupping her cheeks and swiftly kissing her. Damon sighed as he walked around the bed, "I'll work with Elena tomorrow."

Addie looked at him irked. "Yeah, that's what I wanted," she said sarcastically. "Isn't that what you were doing after _we_ trained this afternoon?"

Damon closed his eyes and slowly exhaled as he sat on the side of the bed. He didn't know what had changed but pre-summer, Addie wouldn't have cared that he was helping Elena. Now she was jealous over anything related to Elena. She couldn't still possibly be that pissed over her "everyone dies for Elena" delusion.

"Addie, Elena couldn't even get in a hit against you at this point. She needs a lot of help," he explained calmly.

"That's what Ric is for. Do you realize that since this training crap, that's the only time we see each other?"

He shook his head in confusion. "That's like four and a half, five hours a day."

She scoffed, "No, it's not. For two hours I can't breathe, so we can't talk. For 90 minutes we fight about how effective my training is. We really only see each other for an hour. Then the rest of my day is filled with school and homework. And now you work me so hard that we don't even have late night discussions because I'm passed out."

"Alright," he conceded. She had a point but he did, too, so he proposed, "Tomorrow we sleep in. I'll make French toast with extra butter, pure maple syrup, and lots of powdered sugar. We will have an extremely lazy day and do whatever we want. We can nap, start a fire, binge on Netflix, read, talk, whatever you feel like. Then when you want to go work on your music I'll train with Elena. As soon as you're done I'll stop and it will go back to being all about us. Sound ok?"

Her sister was still involved, making it a far cry from perfect but she'd still have a day with Damon and not how to train. Mindful of not knocking over the cake in front of her, Addie leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder. "Sounds like a plan."

"Great," pipped Damon, suddenly looking forward to spending the day with her. He kissed the top of her head before remarking on something that had been bothering him, "I so very much enjoy waking you up with breakfast in bed; I love seeing a smile on your face before you even open your eyes." She lifted her head and looked at him quizzically. "What I'm trying to get at is I can get you to fall asleep with a smile on your face without food, though. We probably shouldn't bring dessert to bed." With a suggestive smirk he couldn't resist adding, "Unless it involves whipped cream, chocolate sauce, caramel and someone becoming a human sundae."

"Fine," she replied, her voice slightly cracking as her face turned red. "No dessert means no red velvet cake for you," she taunted, moving the plate towards the nightstand.

Damon softly caught her by the arm and stopped her. His curiosity peaked he repeated, "Red velvet cake?"

"Well, yeah. I know it's your favorite so I made it for you but, you know, no dessert in bed."

"Technically, it was already in the bed before that was established so I think that kind of makes it exempt," he smirked, taking the cake from her.

Addie rolled her eyes. "Ever notice how things work out the way you want?"

"Puh-lease," he snorted. "I can count the number of times you _haven't_ gotten your way."

Giving him a smug smile she shrugged, "What can I say? I have a really great guy who would give me the world. Although, he does have a second personality that's drill sergeant trying to kill me. Otherwise I'm fairly certain I'd always get my way."

"The drill sergeant is your trainer, not your boyfriend, and he knows you can do better. Unfortunately, I wouldn't give you the world, though. It's a pretty shitty place with a lot of problems and I just don't think you would like having it. I'd give you anything if I thought it would make you happy, though."

"Is that your subtle way of hinting that you need a fork?" teased Addie, waving one in front of his face.

"Best girlfriend ever," beamed Damon, lightly pecking her between each word. He speared a small bite onto the fork and held it to her lips but Addie leaned as far away as she could, shaking her head. "Come on," he encouraged. "You made it and the rules are chef gets the first taste."

Lightly taking his wrist she redirect the for towards his mouth. Her refusal had nothing to do with the fact that it was _healthy_. With a slight tone of mock disappointment she said, "Try it, Damon. I don't like red velvet cake. I made it just for you."

"Thank you, Addie. That was really sweet of you," he replied genuinely. The cake was tender and moist and had the perfect amount of cocoa and was a beautiful red. All that was missing was the frosting but he wasn't going to point that out. Around another mouthful he said, "This is great, Ads."

She sighed impatiently. It had to taste awful. "No, it's not."

"Yes," he insisted.

"Damon, I made that cake. I know it's bad."

"You didn't try it."

Addie rolled her eyes and, as if it was obvious, pointed out, "I don't need to try it to know whole wheat flour, almond milk, banana, and beet juice make for a very disgusting cake."

He stared at her for a few moments. Damon knew he had this one; he could follow her logic this time. He just needed to think. A finger held up indicated for her not to interrupt him. "Ok. You replace traditional ingredients with healthy alternatives. I don't know what the banana replaces but that's not the point. Now, in your mind health automatically equates disgust. You made me a healthy, 'disgusting' cake." A deep, throaty chuckle bubbled up. He shook his head sympathetically, a big grin on his face. It was cute, really. "The cake is delicious, despite being healthier than usual, love. It gets an A, just like regular cake."

"No, it doesn't. Isn't it missing… something?" she knowingly insisted.

With an annoyed sigh he set the cake down. Damon hadn't entirely figured out whatever game she was playing. "I give up. I can't figure you out. What are you getting at?"

"Alright, you can argue that the healthy alternative is adequate but you can't deny that adding a bit of junk food makes it so much better," Addie wickedly grinned as she pulled out the tub of frosting.

Her argument was very sound. His lips pressed into a thin line as she took the remaining cake from him and opened the can. A familiar scent sweeter than icing hit him. Instantly he began to assess Addie for any injuries. Then he noticed that the typically white frosting was bright red. God, he was an idiot for ever believing she sliced her hand cutting an apple.

"Do you like a lot of frosting or a little bit?"

"Wha-What have you done?" he demanded in awe.

Slowly she explained, "My blood plus frosting plus dessert equals not letting Rebekah find out, hence the dessert in bed."

"You cut yourself!" he reprimanded.

Addie rolled her eyes and started to apply a thin layer of frosting. "Don't be so dramatic. See, I started out with trying to show you that you don't add healthy crap to an already perfect recipe. I am _very_ disappointed in you. The first time you made me those delicious pancakes you said you'd never change your mother's recipe. Then you went and added protein powder. This healthy alternative was supposed to represent how disgusting that is but your taste buds are messed up. Now the original recipe is amazing, hence the unhealthy, pre-made frosting. Then Rebekah kept talking about how vampires survive on blood and food isn't as good and blah, blah, blah. So then i got the idea of how to make the frosting better than the original."

She blushed and purposefully looked away from Damon as she passed the frosted cake back to him. Awkwardly Addie continued, "It's not exactly a secret that you like and want my blood. We haven't _really_ discussed that situation. But, ok, it's like this; if you turned the pancakes into chocolate batter with chocolate chips, that's ok, that's a win. If you add chocolate protein powder to that, you're just destroying everything."

Damon moaned when he tried the cake again. Addie was right. Her blood just took the cake to a whole new dimension of perfection. Three flavors were his guilty pleasures: Addie's blood, chocolate and a good bourbon. Her blood was just so different from anyone else's, human or vampire, that he had ever tasted, so much sweeter and healthier.

"So, let me get this straight," he said between savory bites. "I make you horrible protein pancakes-" they really hadn't been good "-and I get punished with the best thing I've ever tasted? You get that's positive reinforcement for me to start putting protein in everything."

"Well, excuse me for not being the extremely diabolical one in this relationship. You do that and I will mix protein powder with the fancy scotch and bourbon," she threatened. He was unfazed as he continued to enjoy the cake. It annoyed her how he could so easily ignore her sometimes.

The cake finished, Damon set the empty plate and fork on his nightstand. Turning to Addie he raised a suggestive eyebrow and insinuated, "You know, we're not waking up before sunrise tomorrow. We could stay up a little latter."

Addie hummed in agreement but pushed him away when he moved in to kiss her, "You're mental if you think I'm kissing you before you brush your teeth."

* * *

"Five more and I'll tell you what I learned today," Damon taunted as he reclined in Alaric's plush armchair.

Addie's arms quivered as she collapsed on her 40th push-up. "No," she declared, rolling onto her back and staring at the ceiling. "You've been telling me that every five push-ups since I reached 15."

"And you made it 25 have past that. Are you really going to be mad at me for pushing you to be all you can be?"

"Dude, a fit guy can barely do 40 push-ups. How many times do I have to tell you to give her a break? This isn't the army," Alaric reprimanded as he looked between his cell and the computer. It wasn't that he didn't trust Damon's conclusion but he hadn't solved the entire problem.

Between school and Damon's training that, in Alaric's opinion, bordered on abuse from the constant fatigue Addie seemed to be under, she hadn't found the time to look into the runes carved into the caves. Damon had been less than enthusiastic when the task had been reallocated to him. He had pouted and reluctantly agreed when she had colorfully told him how she would find the time to do something productive instead of his bogus training.

While some of the letters could be translated as simple Futhark Viking runes there were some the didn't have a direct translation. It was as if the words had been carved in a regional dialect versus the traditional language. About 70% of the runes had a letter correlated to them. The rest of the symbols he assigned letters for based on how frequently they appeared, what letters most commonly used, exactly where in the word the missing symbols stood. It was a tedious process full of trial and error but he had eventually decoded "Elijah," "Niklaus," and "Mikael." That wasn't all there was to translate but it was enough for Damon. He sent the pictures of runes to Alaric; He was a nerdy history buff; he could do the rest.

"Addie's _fine_ ," Damon insisted, clicking and unclicking a pen. "Tell him, Ads."

"I'm just gonna lie here on the floor and probably fall asleep unless someone says something interesting," she muttered as she rolled onto her side, using her arm as a pillow.

"So the Viking script you were too busy to handle ha-"

"I wouldn't be so damn busy if I didn't spend five hours a day training to fight _vampires,_ " snapped Addie before turning on Alaric, "or two to three hours every other night working on European history! If you want me to have time for caving drawings a fucking _ghost_ led you to, everyone should probably stop giving me so many damn things to do."

"It's a chapter and a one page summary. You do closer to five pages and analysis," Alaric muttered distractedly as he scribbled down another letter. "Kol."

"That's so I don't have to fucking crams for exams! Do you know how fucking hard your test are? The forty minute essay on _any_ random topic is enough to cause an ulcer. Then all the short answers and the questions with the 'which is the _best_ ' answer! It's enough to drive a person fucking nuts," she quickly retorted, her voice becoming higher and frantic as she talked.

A crease formed between Damon's eyebrows as they furrowed in deep thought. That was definitely stress and anxiety in her voice. Addie hadn't mentioned to him that she was feeling pressured. For the most part, she had stopped complaining about the training. He never had to fight with her to get up in the morning anymore. The only issue he had noticed was that she had been spending a lot of time on homework but she told him that was normal. Of course being a perfectionist was normal in her mind.

Alaric glanced to Damon for help but he just gave him a confused shrug. Slightly defensive he pointed out, "That's to prepare you for the actual AP exam; that's the format."

"Which brings me back to why I have to do a whole freaking analysis on every single reading _now_. I don't plan on losing my mind and ripping my hair out and rereading the whole book when exams come in May."

Damon's foot gently prodded her in the stomach as Addie still lay curled up on her side. He'd have to get her to take more time for herself. "So, would learning about what was in the cave add to your descent into insanity or, you know, distract you enough so you don't -"

"Don't focus on my _real_ life and my _real_ problems that a _normal_ teenager should be facing? I mean, I'm entirely crazy for worrying about school when my sister has her boyfriend locked up in an old torture dungeon because he has no humanity and my brother cheated on my best friend because he cheated on her with his ghostly ex-girlfriend while she had a corporeal form, because, you know, that's just how ghosts work," Addie retorted sarcastically. She scoffed and rubbed a hand over her tired face, "That's just my siblings' love lives I have to contend with. Am I supposed to just ignore the bigger problem that is Klaus and his obsession with hybrids and therefore his obsession with my sister? That seems irresponsible." With a quiet resignation she realized, "This is just what my life has come to. Worrying about ghost, vampires, and hybrids is just the new normal. Trying to convince myself that I'm a normal teenager is just stupid. I really don't have an option except to learn what you have about a cave that a ghost said would help us destroy Klaus."

Hesitantly Alaric checked, "So that's a 'yes?'"

"It's a reluctant 'yes,'" answered Damon as he crossed his arms. Addie was never stoked about the supernatural but to actually hear the acceptance and resentment with which she seemed to talk about it bothered him. It sounded like she felt _trapped_ into dealing with this stuff. That bothered him and not only because it made it sound like it she was unhappy, but it made him wonder if Addie felt like she was trapped with him. Sighing, he asked Alaric, "You get anymore figured out?"

"Three more names. I'm guessing I can fill in the third since it's 'R-e-blank-e-k-a-h.' I've got 'Kol' and 'Henrik' for sure. Those names mean anything to you?" Alaric questioned as he looked down at the notepad he had been using to decode the words.

"Nope," Damon replied, as he lazily stretched his arms above his head. Just as he predicted; translating the rest was useless. "'R-e-blank-e-k-a-h' tells me Original sister, though."

Addie lay on the floor as she only half listened to the two men. She didn't particularly care about the runes on the cave wall. The pictographs had been a much more interesting question. The question of why such Western things collided with Native American things around the same time, when history said it wasn't possible was what made the cave interesting. She doubt the writings would be of any real value. It had been a list of eight words, names, according to Alaric and Damon. That wasn't particularly helpful. Now, a story involving a wolf and the moon and a man seemed much more likely to direct them to Klaus' demise.

Having caught two words Addie abruptly interrupted, "Wait, 'Original sister?' You mean Rebekah? What the hell is Rebekah's name doing on a cave wall carved a thousand years ago?"

"Oh, right. I probably should have first told you that I translated three of the words to be 'Elijah,' the Original traitor brother, "Niklaus," the Original hybrid bastard, in both senses of the word," Damon informed her, holding out a hand and helping her to her feet.

"Uh-huh," she nodded in a daze as she started to pace. "Now, how is their name carved into a wall from over-"

"Focus," Damon instructed sharply. "The 'how' is not the important part."

"Of course the 'how' is important," Addie snapped. "Do you not remember the damn Sun and the Moon curse that had both vampires and werewolves running around like idiots all because Klaus planted some fake story for his own benefit? How do we know this isn't another fake?"

Rolling his eyes Damon held up his hands and motioned for her to calm down. Addie took a deep breath and ran a hand through her long dark blue hair as she moved closer to Damon. His fingers lightly wrapped around her wrist and he gently tugged her next to him, squishing the both of them in the large chair meant for one. "That's exactly what I thought but I figured either you or Ric would bitch if I stopped translating there so I did one more word. It was 'Mikael,' the vampire vampire hunter that Klaus is scared of because he can kill him. I don't think Klaus would be planting that into any schemes. The cave is suppose to tell us to how to defeat him. I think it leads to Mikael."

"So, it's useless," Addie laughed. "That's just wonderful."

"It's not _entirely_ useless."

She looked at him incredulously and then at Alaric, who quickly looked away. He was smart enough not to put himself in the middle. Scowling at Damon she demanded, "How is it beneficial? It would have lead to Mikael _a thousand years ago_! We need to find him _now_! No, wait, you already bashed my brother's head in and left him with Katherine to do that! Then you let our _only_ plan on destroying Klaus rest in the hands of Katherine Pierce. I'm about to start keeping a tally board on the number of times she screws you over and yet you're stupid enough to trust her _again_. Did you forget the part where she was going to hand my sister and the moonstone over to Klaus? Yes! Let's leave her in charge of the thing that kills him! And oh, my god, who is shocked when," Addie paused her rant to fake a gasp, "Katherine conveniently loses the only thing we know Klaus fears? Who cares if it leads to Mikael?! We have already found and _lost_ Mikael!"

It was an entirely valid argument that he couldn't really argue with but he wasn't going to let Addie defeat him that easily. "The pictures in the cave can tell us what weapon Mikael has that Klaus is so terrified of. Then, all we need to do is get that and kill Klaus."

"Oh, right. That's _all_ we need to do. It's really as easy as that."

Alaric could see Damon rearing up for another retort. Before they could get too far off topic and his living was the scene for another one of their epic arguments he quickly butted in, "Addie, the names, 'Niklaus,' 'Elijah,' 'Rebekah,' 'Kol,' Henrik,' 'Esther,' and 'Something-i-n-n,' do they mean anything to you?"

"Where did 'Esther come from?" Damon asked in confusion.

"Figured it out while you two were bickering. Just leaves the one name uncoded."

After a moment of digging through her memories Addie recalled, "Elijah said his mother bore seven children. You have eight names. We know Elijah, Rebekah, and Niklaus are siblings. Is it that far of a lead to conclude that the names other than Mikael are their siblings, too?"

"Ok, Miss Know-It-All. Who is Mikael?" challenged Damon, slightly annoyed that they had to ask a 16 year old for what was now clearly the obvious answer.

"'We are the _Original_ family; from us, all vampires are created. Nothing can kill an Original. Not Sun, not fire, not even a werewolf bite.' That's exactly what Elijah said about his family, word for word," Addie regurgitated. "So, I'm kinda confused because Katherine said _dead_ dead and not _dagger_ dead. If nothing can kill an…"

"Moving away from the question, Addie. _Who is Mikael_?"

Addie blinked at Damon slowly, as if not understanding him. "A vampire, obviously. His name is on a wall from a thousand years ago and he's a _vampire_ vampire hunter. He, you know," her eyes lit up in sudden recollection, "he may have been the first person they ever turned. Elijah said from his family all vampires descended. And _Mikael_ might have a way to kill Klaus because, according to Elijah, there has to be one exception to every rule, his family couldn't be truly immortal. 'However, my family made sure to burn down that tree.' It's the white oak tree; that's why _white oak ash_ on a dagger through the heart takes them down. If you think of a stake of wood as lethal poison if it reaches the heart, then the ash is like a diluted, stunning version of that poison."

"You're trying to convert the supernatural into something logical again," Damon noted warily.

" _You_ wanted my damn opinion on this. If _you_ don't like it then _you_ can stop asking for my input," Addie huffed, jabbing him in the chest every time she said "you."

Alaric quickly interpreted Addie's long-winded explanation before Damon could open his smart mouth and concluded, "So you think this Mikael person was turned before they burnt down the white oak tree and carved a stake out of it?"

Addie shrugged, "It's just a guess. I know _I_ would want to kill whoever turned me into a damn vampire. And if nothing but that tree could have killed an Original…. That's all nice and lovely but am I the only one who finds the list of _names_ to be the most boring part of a cave that is supposed to spell out Klaus's demise?"

"The cave leads to Mikael," Damon stated obviously.

"Then what the hell do all the pictographs mean? Somebody put those up next to the names for a reason. From the names we already got to Mikael. We didn't need the ghost of Mason Lockwood for that," she confronted him.

Damon didn't answer right away as he contemplated his argument. Sure, the pictures probably told them something but he _really_ didn't want to play "Lockwood Diaries: Pictionary-Style." He'd just have to distract Addie with a different with a different topic. Thankfully that was usually as easy as distracting any other girl with something shiny and expensive. Unfortunately it usually meant an argument.

"What if we got _who_ Mikael is wrong? Say he's not the first person they turned but he was the first person _to_ turn. I mean, he's like the _original_ Original. And he turned the rest of the Originals?"

Addie pinched the bridge of her nose at Damon's simplicity. Sometimes his intelligence was astounding and other times she really wondered which one of them was older. She criticized, "Why would _the original_ vampire want to hunt down vampires? Is it a popularity contest or something with you guys? That's like Dracula, the king and original standard for the literature vampire, trying to kill Edward Cullen."

"First of all, Edward Cullen and the entire Twilight series is an insult to all vampires because _A) we don't sparkle like diamonds in the sun_ and _B) we like sex._ I don't know what vampires that author has been hanging out with if she's thinking vampires are into waiting until _marriage_. Even Stefan isn't that - but whatever. Secondly, I think it's a notoriety thing with vampires. Most people who turn are usually vain or narcissistic or selfish and then that gets magnified ten times. So, yeah, it's like an ego boost when you know you've made a lasting impression. Especially if it last for hundreds of years. Like the Originals reached such legendary status that we didn't even think they were real.

"Third, doesn't it just make more sense for Mikael to be Papa Original instead of the first born son? Although, in that case you could argue that he's a vampire hunter because of Cain/Abel thing and is killing off all vampires out of jealousy. You know, I really don't know but he's not the first person they turned. Why would a family write that down? Oooh! Maybe he is _Papa_ Original. Father of all the Originals. It would make sense that he- Ooo!" Damon literally jumped out of the chair and clapped his hands at this realization. "I may not know why he's a vampire hunter but I know why he wants to kill Klaus. Klaus is an insult to his pride, manhood, everything that would have been highly regarded a million years ago because Klaus is the product of an affair. He is a shame and insult to Mikael's honor and that's why he's been obsessed with killing him." He held out his hands in an open, cocky gesture. "Consider your argument matched."

"Nu-uh," Addie insisted quickly. "Your insane theory, where you have no proof of him being Klaus' father, only provides an explanation for him wanting to kill Klaus, not why he is a _vampire_ vampire hunter."

Damon scoffed, "And you think he's-"

" _Who_ Mikael is to Klaus is not important!" Alaric said loudly, his head starting to throb. "All that matters is that Mikael can kill Klaus and that only matters if we can find Mikael. For now, the best we can do on that is put out feelers for Mikael an-"

"Well, no, you really can't do that otherwise Klaus will just come back and take Elena since he'll know Damon was bluffing when he scared him off with his threat of Klaus," Addie corrected, sounding more than a little irritated. "Honestly, our best chance is in the hands of the most insane woman in the world. She has the closest lead to Mikael. All we can do is translate the cave and hope it leads to something other than Mikael."

Alaric looked to Damon for approval of this plan but Damon was scowling at the ground, obviously put off that he hadn't won the argument. "Ok," Alaric agreed. "Saturday morning I'll take Elena down there and we'll take pictures of the entire cave. It's a lot of drawings; the more people we have helping the faster we translate."

"Or the more opinions we get on what the same thing means. We already have two theories on who Mikael is," Addie pointed out bluntly.

"Between the two of you, you just find the flaw in every idea, don't you?" sighed Alaric.

"For the most part."

"Pretty much."

* * *

"Clearly these images tell a story. To learn the story, you have to decipher these images," Alaric mused as he spread out the freshly developed pictures on his desk.

Elena stood next to him and looked down at them, too. To say the cave had been overwhelming would be an understatement. "How are we supposed to do that when we don't even know what the story is about?"

Damon didn't say anything; he didn't see the point in translating the story. He knew what the cave was gonna say: "Go find Mikael!" That plan had already failed. Damon slightly leaned in towards Addie's raised fist, setting the trap, then rapidly drew his head back to evade the straight punch to his jaw with her left fist. His right fist tapped the inside of her left shoulder lightly. Once he had eventually convinced her that she wasn't going to hurt him, which took nearly a week of training, several reasonable conversations, a two hour arguing match, several provoking comments and a slug to the upper arm a little harder than Damon felt comfortable with, Addie actually fought back with her strength and he could teach her something. He'd been surprised to learn that her years of getting into physical altercations with her brother had actually turned her into a decent fighter. It was actually the fight over Jeremy kissing Anna that gave him with a bloody nose and slightly bruised eye and a defensive jab that had split Addie's bottom lip that made Damon set his foot down and demand that she actually start showing him what she could do.

She caught him off guard when, instead of knocking his arm out of the way, Addie's right hand quickly jabbed at his chin, making contact, then hooked over his right shoulder as she stepped in to grab him. He tensed when he felt something pointy pressing just below his rib cage. When the hell had she hit him hard enough to eject a stake into her _left_ fist? He had completely blocked it. It only took a fraction of a second for him to react and awkwardly twist his left arm around his back to grab her wrist. A little pressure at the right points made her slightly gasp and the wood fall with a clatter.

"Don't hesitate," he growled. "In that heartbeat you could have been lunch." The hair tie holding her hair back left her neck exposed and he softly nipped at her, making his point.

"Right. Excuse me for _not_ staking and hurting you," Addie retorted sharply, pushing him away. Always criticism. She _knew_ that was a good shot and had it been anyone else but him, a stake would be wedged in them.

"You have to practice that part, too. Piercing through skin and muscles and organs is not that easy. You have to be prepared for that. Tell 'er, Ric."

Alaric smirked to himself as he studied one of the pictures; it looked familiar. "Sometimes, Addie, you just have to stake Damon because he's Damon and he damn well deserves it."

The vampire huffed and rolled his eyes, "That's not what I meant."

"No," agreed Alaric as he noticed Addie come up next to him, "but it's true. Besides, if she stakes you every time you deserve it, that will be more than enough practice."

"Alright. You want to interpret these pictures? You start by going with what you know." Addie asked as she ran her hand over one of a circle and inverted triangles.

"'Ghost of Christmas Past' Mason Lockwood led us to the cave, which he said would hold a weapon that would kill Klaus. Instead it had a list of names and a pretty pictures," Damon recited, tossing and catching the stake Addie had dropped.

Elena turned to Damon and frowned. "Ok but doesn't Mikael have a weapon?"

"In case you haven't notice the unsettling calm in town, we are currently lacking a _vampire_ vampire hunter. I can assure you Stefan would be dead in that cell and Damon would be working a hell of a lot harder to save his pretty little ass," Addie muttered bitterly. It was irritating being in the same room as Elena. Hearing her talk to Damon was worse than nails on a chalkboard."

Alaric cut in before Elena or Damon could retort to Addie's sharp words, "These images at the very least might tell us what that weapon is." It felt like he had to stop Addie from getting into arguments with almost everyone.

"Then all we have to do is find out what they mean," shrugged Elena.

Addie opened her mouth and Alaric stepped on her foot. She glared at him but he gave her a disapproving looked. Addie sneered and stuck her tongue out at him before going back to training with Damon. The quick and scathing vampire could take her brutal jibes by returning them in favor; Alaric could deal with that most of the time. But when it came to Elena and Addie, coolness and sarcasm was a quick stop to lashing out and hurting each other. He had no idea how their parents had handled them living under the same roof. Though, from what he knew, things had been a little different when Addie didn't blame Elena for their death.

"Fine! Fine! I'll play along and be irritatingly optimistic, too," Damon sighed dramatically as he easily caught Addie's swift sidekick by the ankle. The sudden loss of momentum with a lack of impact made her lose her balance. "How do you suppose we do that, Elena?" He smirked as he watch Addie hop on one foot as she tried to regain her balance. Lightly tugging at her ankle sent her stumbling into his arm. Ignoring whatever Elena was saying he softly kissed the tip of her nose and grinned at her as he innocently whispered, "Hi!"

It took Damon a second to realize that Addie wasn't laughing at him when she pulled away from him. She looked around the apartment and fell into further giggles as she dropped onto the couch.

Alaric looked questioningly at Damon. "What'd I miss?"

"I don't know. Apparently I missed it, too."

"Seriously," Addie laughed, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. "Am I the only one who finds the idea of _Elena_ going to _Rebekah_ for the story written on a wall a thousand years ago in hopes of figuring out what weapon we need to kill her brother completely and utterly hysterical and wants a front row seat for that show?"

"Yeah, that's not gonna work," agreed Damon.

"You know, the plan might work better if you tr-"

Addie shook her head defiantly, "No way in hell. See, unlike my sister, I'm not stupid. Elena probably thinks she can reason with a thousand-year-old vampire who's trying to take down the reigning Queen B of Mystic Falls. A little mean girl power struggle and then they'll be besties."

"Well, Rebekah _is_ trying to win everyone over rather than compelling them," Damon admitted in Elena's defense.

"Yeah, and you charm women into sleeping with you rather than compelling them. That doesn't mean you're a person who can be reasoned with. Trust me; I've tried. You've only had 170-something years to become a stubborn dick. Rebekah's had over a thousand. My sister doesn't stand a chance."

* * *

Addie stared blankly at her physics homework. She had no clue about resistors or dissipating energy over time. It must have been covered in the first hour that she had missed. Or in the last half hour that she just didn't pay attention. She debated on asking Jeremy for help but that had not happened in 11 years of school and she was not about to start.

It was all Damon's fault, really. When he told her to go back to sleep at five until 6:30 that morning, she could have kissed him; instead she enjoyed another hour and a half of sleep. When they switched from combat training to strength training at 7:15 she could have kissed him because that meant it would only leave them with the hour long run after school. When they finished up at eight and he told her there would be no training after school because he had something to do she could have kissed him; instead she showered and got ready for school. When she was about to leave at 8:45 and he told her that the new training schedule would be like that morning every weekday with no weekends Addie kissed Damon. Then he kissed her. And she would have completely forgotten about school if they hadn't been interrupted by a text from Jeremy asking where she was half through physics. Really, both she and Damon were really better about her school attendance. But being apart for the summer, then the break up, then getting back together, it all made for a really easy excuse to spend and focus more time on each other.

Addie looked up in mild surprise when there was a knock at the study door. Rebekah had been playing obnoxious music and had compelled herself six human Barbie dolls to model homecoming dresses. She had tried to rope Addie into her fun and games but the younger girl insisted that she had an insane amount of homework she had to do. It hadn't particularly bothered Addie that the blonde was upset by this; when first rooming with Rebekah at camp she learned that she could gain the vampire's respect a lot faster by not giving into her every wish and demand like some scared little kid.

Over the music Addie thought she had heard her sister but as there hadn't been the sound of anything breaking or horrified, she figures it wasn't her problem. A glance the dark night outside the window told her that had been hours ago, though.

"Uh, come in?" she called out to whoever was knocking. Nobody ever knocked to enter the library. The only door besides the bathroom that anybody bothered to knock on was Damon's.

Rebekah's blond head appeared around the door with a guilty smile. Tentatively she asked, "Is the raging bitch queen that posses you when you obsessively work on something going to come out if I come in here?"

Addie scoffed indignantly, "I'll have you know that 'the raging bitch queen' prefers 'your majesty' and I only get like that when someone tries to screw with me while I'm working on a music project. I'm working on physics at the moment; I will be worshiping whoever gives me cause for distraction."

"Well, you can worship me and name me your queen because I'm doing better than a distraction," Rebekah announced proudly as she produced 2L of Coca-Cola and Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey. "Where are the glasses?"

"Oh, my god. You are sooo much better than physics." she sighed, thankful for the excuse to slam her textbook shut. It was the last of the homework she had for the night and _technically_ she still had tomorrow night to do it. From Damon's liquor cabinet she pulled out two tumblers as she sat on the opposite couch of Rebekah. She watched as the other girl filled the glasses part way with the coke and when the carbonation fizzled out, the rest was filled with whiskey. Addie rolled her eyes. Rebekah didn't make Coke and Jack; she made Jack with a hint of Coke for color. Taking the drink from the vampire Addie asked, "What are we drinking to?"

"I want know what your sister and her friends and you and whoever are up to," Rebekah declared bluntly.

Addie coughed and sputtered around her first sip as it burned down her throat and up her nose. She hadn't been expecting such a pointed approach. Uncomfortably stinging, she cleared her throat and took another sip of the drink as she considered her answer. "I'm not doing anything," she said offensively. All she had done was throw some theories around. It was everyone else who interpreted runes and tried to weasel information out of people. "But, yeah, some people are trying write some checks they can't cash." Alaric and Elena might believe the wall to be helpful but she knew Damon thought it was a waste of time. "What did my sister tell you? Or what did you tell my sister?"

"At practice she confronted me about why Klaus and I have been running from my father. I -"

"For fucks sucks," Addie swore, scowling into her glass.

Rebekah tilted her head in confusion, "What?"

"Nothing," she muttered. "Just Damon and I were arguing about _who,_ in relation to you, Mikael was and I don't like it when he's right for being an idiot."

"You know, we _could_ discuss you, him, the world of problems you guys got going on and the sexual tension that is starting to suffocate anyone in the same room as you two," the vampire smirked knowingly.

Addie pursed her lips and pretend to think for a moment. "How about not? We spent the whole summer discussing Damon and me; I think we've beaten that horse to death. What did you tell Elena?"

"Question for question. I don't get you and Damon as a couple. He's a vampire and basically immortal. Why should he care about a silly little human who is only going to last for a fleeting moment? And if you two weren't sleeping together, like you said, he wasn't even getting anything out of it! And, um, hello!" Rebekah exclaimed, snapping three times right in front of Addie's eyes. "Have you had your vision checked? Why the hell were you _not_ sleeping with him?"

One side of Addie's mouth twitched up into a satisfied smiled. Politely she replied, "I'm sorry but I'm afraid you've just wasted your question. I've asked myself those same things. Unfortunately, Damon is the only one with the answers. You can try getting them from him but he won't even give them to me. What did you tell my sister?"

Rebekah's eyes narrowed at the younger girl. Addie really could be a brat. She didn't understand Nik's fascination with her. The way she talked to them sometimes, like _she_ was the immortal one was something confounding, especially since she didn't do it in an arrogant manner, just as if she knew some secret.

"I didn't tell Elena anything important. I didn't tell her anything she really wanted to know. Over a thousand years ago, my family lived side by side with the werewolves peacefully as humans. Every full moon we would retreat underground for the night." Rebekah's voice grew more distant as she reflected on a time long forgotten for the second time that day. "One full moon, Nik and my youngest brother Henrik snuck out to watch the men turn into beast. That was forbidden. Henrik paid the price. I didn't tell Elena that was one of the last moments my family had together as humans."

Both girls jumped as Addie's cell phone start to vibrate loudly on the coffee table. Seeing it was Damon, she silenced the call.

"You better get that," Rebekah suggested. "No doubt Elena's told him she left without finding anything out and only made me suspicious. He'll want to make sure I haven't killed you to figure out what's going on."

"He gives you a little more credit than that."

"No."

Addie nodded, "Otherwise he wouldn't leave me alone with you. He knows I can't kill you. He wouldn't let me be alone with you if he thought I was really in danger." She winced as she was assaulted with loud sounds upon answering the call. "What the hell? Where are you?"

"No idea but I'm pretty sure I'm overdressed," he replied humorously. More seriously Damon asked, "You ok?"

"Except for the crappy music blaring in my ear I'm dandy."

"I'll be at the bar," came a muffled but familiar voice.

"Damon, you have gone so far from off the book or rogue this time! Have you lost your mind?! Lexi dried Stefan out for like a million years and then my sister has had - Short version. Starving blood addict/ripper. No humanity! Bar equals 'all-you-can-eat' at the Sizzler. Obvious vampire attacks. You _dead_ ," Addie said quickly, trying to make Damon see reason before he got himself into trouble.

On the other end of the line he laughed slightly, "Addie, relax. Don't worry. I'm stronger, faster, and _not_ starving, making me smarter than him. I know what I'm doing."

"That's what you always say right before you end up in trouble. Can't you just be a _normal_ big brother and kick his ass until he learns a lesson?" she begged.

"Well, that's plan B. We both know I'm not a fan of normality. Trust me, I got this."

Addie groaned unhappily and ran a hand through her hair. "Promise me you won't end up dead. Or, you know, decide that Stefan _totally_ has the right idea and decide to turn off your own humanity."

"I promise you there is absolutely no chance of that. I love you; I'm not going to stop feeling that. Look, I gotta go before he drains a blond. I'll see you tonight," Damon said quickly before there was a silence.

She stared at the phone for a few seconds before tossing it back on the couch and turning back to Rebekah. Addie took a long drink before sighing, "Where were we?"

"My turn to ask a question. _That_ ," Rebekah emphasis as she pointed between Addie and the phone. "What's going on between you two? He tells you he loves you but you're not dating. You've got this obvious sexual tension but you're not doing anything about it. You live with him, share a bed with him. Although half the time I wonder which one of you is going to snap and kill the other."

Addie shrugged and gave Rebekah a blank look. "You heard him; he's not a fan of normality. And you know I'm anything but normal. Is it that surprising that we would have a very complex, undefinable relationship? Don't bother trying to understand it because, honestly, I know I don't get it and I'm pretty sure Damon doesn't get it either. It's just definitely not something neither one of us asked for." Again Addie shrugged and took a drink. She felt uncomfortable with the way Rebekah was studying her. Changing the topic she asked, "What happened next? You said Henrik's death was one of the last moments your family spent together as humans."

"My parents turned to the spirits to protect us from the wolves."

"Yeah, 'cause, you know, why move when you can just turn into cannibals?" Addie muttered, mixing more cola and Jack Daniel's in her glass.

"That was an unforeseen side effect. My father's pride kept us from moving. He wanted to fight and be superior to the wolves. Where they could bite, we had to bite harder. Where they had speed, we had to be faster. Agility, strength, senses, everything thing heightened, and beyond that, immortality. The witch my mother knew would not help with this nor would the spirits so it was up to my mother to protect our family," Rebekah explained.

A warmth like the breath of a a fire filled Addie as she settled back into the couch and sarcastically mused, "Guess I've been look at this whole vampire thing wrong. It's not a curse; it's protection. So what was your mother supposed to do about it?"

"That was how it initially began," the other girl said defensively. "Because my mother was also a witch."

"Wait," Addie interrupted slowly as her thoughts clicked together. "Your mom was a witch. The witch of the Original Family. The Original Witch! She put the curse on Klaus? _Your mother_ didn't want him to make hybrids? _The spirit of your dead mother tried to kill my sister!_ My god. That's Elijah, Klaus, your mother, and you who would all have my sister dead if things went your way. Huh. How'd she do it?"

Rebekah eyed Addie warily. Knowing the girl there were a million different things she could have meant by that question. "Do what?"

"Cast the protection spell if the spirits were against it."

"Dark magic. She called upon the sun for life, and the ancient white oak tree, one of nature's eternal objects, for immortality. To seal the spell one night my father offered us wine laced with blood. And then he drove his sword through our hearts." Rebekah paused, waiting for some reaction from Addie. However, the girl stared at her as though that was a completely rational thing her father did. Maybe in her mind it was; _she_ knew it was part of the transitioning process. Rebekah hadn't know what her father was doing.

"We had to drink more blood to finish the ritual. It was _euphoric_ ," the vampire explained, her face briefly overcome by bliss. "The spirits turned on us and nature fought back. You know the limitations of a vampire. But the darkest consequence was something my parents never anticipated, the hunger. Blood had made us reborn and it was blood that we craved above all else. We could not control it. And with that, the predatory species was born."

That answered absolutely nothing. Maybe her time would have been better spent working on physics. "Interesting story. You should tell my sister. Annoy the hell out of her by giving her information on everything except what she wants to know," Addie snickered into her drink.

"My turn," Rebekah stated boldly. "What is it between you and your sister?"

Addie sighed and rubbed at the tension in her neck. She needed to spend less time with her head bent over books. "I'm guessing you mean besides the fact that she's an annoying little bottle of what everyone deems to be perfect?"

"Yes, see, that's why people who see through the facade don't like her. You probably wouldn't be too phased if my brother killed her."

She raised one shoulder coolly. It wasn't that she wouldn't care but, "At least with Elena gone I wouldn't have to worry about anyone else I care about or love dying for her. First my parents died in the wreck because Elena _had_ to be picked up from a party where she _had_ to pick a fight with her boyfriend, when she shouldn't have even gone to the party in the first place. And of course her drama was so big that both my parents _had_ to go pick her up. Then I got kidnapped and was on the menu for her psycho birth mother. Then my aunt and uncle die in Klaus' stupid ritual." Addie faked a gasped, as if she couldn't believe she had almost forgot, "Oh, and my boyfriend, my wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, still-obsessed-with-my-sister-boyfriend almost gets himself killed _just_ to stop her from turning into a vampire. Really, it's just a matter of time before Klaus demands more blood from Elena and he kills someone for her to get the damn message that she needs to deliver. It could be argued that everyone I know would be safer so it would be in the better interest for the majority."

Rebekah gave a low whistle. "Wow. I thought my brother was cold."

"I'm not saying I'd kill her or that I want her dead or that I'd be happy about it," Addie said defensively, holding her hand up innocently. "Look, my sister's an actress and I don't like her performance. It's as simple as that. She hurts a lot of people." Like Damon. Ugh. She hated when Damon was right. "Mikael is hunting Klaus because he's ashamed of him," Addie stated rather than asked.

Rebekah nodded in confirmation, "My mom tried to make it right. She put the hybrid curse on Nik to suppress his werewolf side, and then she turned her back on him. But Mikael's greatest weakness as a human was his pride. As a vampire, that was magnified. He went on a rampage and killed half the village. Then came home and killed her."

The coke and alcohol burned down her throat as Addie swallowed a gasp. She grimaced at the pain. Horse, she whispered, "Mikael killed your mother?"

"He said she broke his heart so he would break hers. He tore it from her chest as Nik watched. Afterwards, my father took off in a rage and the rest of my family scattered. Nik stayed, so he could help me bury her. He knew I had to say goodbye to my mother. Elijah did too. We made a pact then to stick together as one. Always and forever," Rebekah reminisced as she refilled both their glasses.

"Even though he lock you in a coffin for ninety years?" Addie wondered. That was over a lifetime. Even if you got a million lifetimes, that still had to suck.

"We're vampires. Our emotions are heightened. I'm stubborn, Elijah moral, and Nik… Nik has no tolerance for those who disappoint him. Over a thousand years as a family we've all made that mistake at least once. I've made it several times."

Sighing, Addie shook her head in a reluctant understanding. Elena could screw her ten times over but she was still her sister at the end of the day. "You still love him."

"He's my brother. And I'm immortal." Rebekah swallowed the rest of her drink in one gulp as her walls and defenses went back up. The glass hit the coffee table a little louder than she meant. "My turn again. What are you guys up to?"

"Elena wanted to know your story so she could figure out what the cave paintings on the wall meant because she thinks it can lead us to Mikael. She wants to wake Mikael because she wants Klaus dead," Addie confessed, slightly altering the truth.

Rebekah's eyes narrowed. Elena wasn't the one who was a threat. Low and warning she asked, "What do _you_ want, Addie?"

She remained unfazed by the vampire as she considered this. Her bark was worse than her bite. "I'll be honest," sighed Addie, her fingers pulling through her hair. "Right now, I don't see the benefit of waking Mikael. For one, Klaus, while having a hold over many lives, is not an active threat. We give him Elena's blood when he asks and there's no problem. Two, there are too many vampires that I care about and want to survive to bring a _vampire_ vampire hunter into this mess. Three, is it such a crime to want a moment of peace and a break from the supernatural drama? I was supposed to get that this summer but with your brother I got a crapload of supernatural dumped on me."

Addie finished her glass and set it on the table next to Rebekah's before standing up. "I'm not going to lie, though. If what you said about Klaus wanting me for some curse or ritual or cure or some other kind of crap, that means he has a hold over my life. I don't like anyone telling me how to live. Nor do I appreciate being blackmailed into shit or having the ones I love used against me. Its nice to know that Mikael is there, should Klaus become a problem again."

* * *

To say Alaric had been ecstatic when he had been able to figure out almost all the cave drawings once he learned that the print on Elena's necklace was the icon meant for witch and had Addie to fill in Rebekah's version of the story would be an understatement. Addie hadn't seen what the big deal was. The only thing the wall had told her that was different from what she already knew was that _Klaus_ had been the one to kill his mother, not his father. Addie folded the picture that revealed that and stuffed it into her back pocket as she stood outside the front door of the boarding house. Bonnie, Elena, and Alaric had all been pushing her to tell Rebekah the truth but Addie wasn't sure she saw the point. They were convinced that it was going to make going to make the vampire join in their mission to to seek revenge on Klaus.

From her own personal experience, Addie doubt this was highly unlikely. Rebekah might initially be hurt and jump on the bandwagon at first but she would change her mind as soon as she remembered that Klaus was her brother and she loved him no matter what. Addie had wanted to hate Elena for all eternity and wish her a life of misery of guilt for the death of her parents but when push came to shove, she always broke down and and came to her sister's rescue. Her relationship with Elena had never been good and only went back 16 years; Rebekah's and Klaus' spanned over a thousand. They couldn't trust her not to turn on them. The worst part was, Addie wouldn't really blame Rebekah if she put family first; she'd be a hypocrite if she did.

The garage door had been closed when Addie got back but she somehow doubted that Damon's car was in there. She wanted to get his opinion on whether or not she should burst the comfortable bubble of truth Rebekah had lived in for so long. While his methods were unorthodox and a bit dangerous, Damon's heart had been in the right place when he had busted his brother out of the jail cell. He understood the importance of family first. It was actually a bit of a surprise that he had let Elena continue on with her dry out, torture recovery program for so long. Addie had known it was only a matter of time before Damon broke his brother out.

Double checking the pictures were safe in her pocket, Addie unlocked the door and went inside. Damon definitely wasn't home, she observed as she relocked it. He bordered on being like an overly energetic dog that would bound to meet her every time she walked through the door. Her lips pinched in a disappointment as she headed to the study. She noticed that Rebekah had cleaned up the glasses and drinks from earlier as she poured herself a little bit of one of Damon's better bourbons.

"Sneaking into the hard stuff?" implored a familiar voice. 'I'm guessing your little friends didn't like what you had to report back," Rebekah gleamed smugly as she lounged on the sofa.

"I don't want to talk about it," Addie muttered as she moved closer to the fire that had been lit.

"That bad? They must really be mad at you," taunted the vampire.

She bristled at this. The way Rebekah acted like she had won some competition annoyed her. Through gritted teeth Addie curtly replied, "I'm the one who is mad. We are having a difference of opinions."

"Over what?" the blonde demanded immediately.

Just as quickly she snapped back, "It doesn't matter."

"If it concerns my family or me than I deserve to know!" Rebekah exclaimed, getting off the couch.

"Whether you deserve to know is not the point! It's whether you should know." Addie quickly took a drink before she could let any more words unintentionally leave her mouth.

Rebekah flashed to her, pressed a hand just above Addie's heart, and slammed her into the book case. The girl barely flinched, even as dark veins spread out from underneath the vampire's steely blue eyes. "Tell me!" Roared Rebekah.

Addie looked down at the hand holding her in place; they both knew she couldn't move. It was exactly because of occasions like this that she did not understand why Damon insisted on learning hand to hand combat. Nonchalantly, Addie raised her hand around Rebekah and took another sip from the glass. She wasn't going to show she had been rattled. After noticing the slight licorice taste, she swallowed and looked up into the other girl's eyes. "Rebekah, you don't want everything you've know, every foundation you've centered your life around to be shattered. That happened to me when I was 15. You don't want it to happen to you after a thousand years."

As Addie's words sunk in, Rebekah took a step back, releasing Addie from her hold. Eventually she realized and muttered, "You're trying to protect me."

"You're my friend," shrugged Addie as she moved past Rebekah and went back to staring into the fire. She wanted to talk to Damon and get his opinion on what the right thing to do was. It wasn't like the wall had revealed some secret weapon so what was the point of trying to get Rebekah on their side?

"Tell me," Rebekah demanded, leaving no room for negotiation. "I can handle it."

She wasn't certain of that. "You don't _need_ to know. And once you know, you're going to wish you didn't know."

"If Damon was hiding some deep, dark secret, wouldn't you want to know?" huffed the Original, starting to get annoyed.

Addie laughed bitterly, "Bad example. Damon has plenty of deep, dark secrets that I don't know about. And, honestly, I don't want to know every sordid detail of his past."

"You'd still accept him, though."

That was something she couldn't confirm or deny. For a while she had been wondering exactly just how horrible Damon would have to be for her to push him away. She already knew the two things he felt most guilty about, leaving his friend to die and killing his unborn niece, and that still wasn't enough to appall her into staying away from him. Addie settled on a deflection. "Damon's not family. It's different when it's knowledge about your family."

"I need to know, Addie. Do you really believe that if you're the only one who doesn't want me to know, one of your friends won't tell me anyways? If it's something bad, I'd rather hear it from someone I consider a friend," reasoned Rebekah.

Reluctantly Addie withdrew the photo from her back pocket and unfolded it. There was nothing she hated more than losing an argument to reason. Addie sat close to Rebekah on the couch and spread out the picture in front of them. There was a stick figure holding the symbol for the Original Witch above it's head and a heart inside of it's chest. Next to it was was a circle with what they had decided were flames around it and two inverted triangles at the bottom as fangs, within the fangs where another set of teeth, properly oriented triangles connected to a circle. They had concluded the bonding of the werewolf and vampire symbol to be Klaus, the hybrid.

"You only know that Mikael killed your mother because that is what Klaus told you, right?" Addie asked hesitantly.

Rebekah cast a sideways glance at her and slowly answered, "Yes. He saw it."

Sighing Addie ran a hand through her hair. She didn't do good with delivering bad news, at least not in a nice way. "Everything you told me, all the paintings on the wall align with your story perfectly except for this one picture." Addie pointed two the two circles. "This is the symbol for the hybrid, it's a combination of the werewolf and vampire symbol." Her finger moved to the mark on the talisman. "This is the one for you mother."

"Her necklace," whispered Rebekah, almost in disbelief.

"And this," she mutter, pointing between the two figures, "is the story of her death. The hybrid killed the Original Witch, not Mikael."

"No!" Rebekah cried, jumping to her feet, "No, Nik wouldn't do that."

Addie shrugged. She had heard everyone else's arguments for why _that_ had to be the explanation of the picture but Rebekah didn't need to hear them. It was already obvious from the tears running down her cheeks that she knew them.

The vampire snatched the picture off the table and shredded it into pieces, tossing a single piece into the fire with each word. "These mean nothing! They're just stupid drawings, done by stupid people who had no idea who my family was!"

As Rebekah fell to the floor and began to sob, Addie shifted uncomfortably. It was a miracle when she managed to process and handle her own emotions. She definitely had no clue as to how to help other people deal with theirs. She glanced at the time on her phone. It was getting late. And Rebekah could probably use some "personal time" to come to terms with whatever she chose to believe. Addie nodded to herself; she was definitely going to get ready for bed.

* * *

The door softly creaked open but Addie ignored it and clutched her pillow tighter when she sensed Damon's familiar footfalls. She continued this when his weight shifted the bed as he leaned across it and placed a feather light kiss on her cheek. When Addie went to inhale the comforting scent of ginger, cloves, and sandalwood it was tinged with the tangy, metallic odor of blood. Groaning, she rolled onto her back and blindly pushed him away.

" _Again_ , Damon. Why are you covered in blood, again? You're always covered in blood," she chastised.

Damon smirked as he tossed his ripped shirt into the waste bin. "I live on the edge, love. Sometimes it gets a little dangerous. You gotta get use to it."

"I do not ha-" Addie stopped short as she sat up and saw just how much blood ran down his chest and coated his abs. The skin was still bright pink where it had knitted back together over his heart. "I thought you said you could handle Stefan!" she hissed at him. With no humanity, he was lucky his brother hadn't ripped his heart out.

"Well, I had to resort to plan B," he admitted as he tossed his jeans in the hamper and turned on the sound machine before continuing, "and he's a bigger dick than before. At least now he's a dick on our side. He wants his freedom back. He wants to kill Klaus." Addie still looked at him like she was going to vomit. Damon glanced down at himself and saw just how much blood had leaked out when Mikael had clutched his heart. "How come you get to bitch at me about smelling like blood but I'm not suppose to say anything about you drinking?" he challenged.

Her mouth opened and shut several times as she gaped at him like a fish before weakly arguing, "I showered _and_ brushed my teeth! How can you even tell?!"

"Sensitive smell," countered Damon, tapping the side of his nose.

That wasn't exactly a vampire ability she could scold him for using. Her lips pressed into a thin line as she sneered, "You could at least do me the favor of showering."

"Well that's exactly what I was going to do before you decided to get all cranky about the blood," he retorted snidely, sticking his tongue out at her.

Addie sighed in annoyance, "What do you expect of me when you come back injured? Am I just supposed to ignore it?"

He waved his hands at his chest and scoffed, "Do I look injured to you?"

"You obviously _were_!"

"Yes, I _was_! I heal quite quickly, in case you've forgotten."

"That's not the point! I don't want to have to worry about whether or not you're coming back every time you go off on one of your stupid plans!" she exclaimed, jumping out of the bed.

Damon took three long strides and was cupping her hands in her face. "Now you know how I feel every time you leave my sight," he breathed quietly.

She gently pulled at his wrist, tugging his hands away from her face. "Just go take a shower," she muttered. So much blood on him was making her queasy.

He held his hands up innocently as he backed away and into the bathroom in consent. Addie curled back under the soft black blanket and silky sheets. She felt herself relax as she heard the water start to run and the opening and closing of the shower door. About twenty minutes later Addie found herself curled up next to him, his body still warm from the shower.

"You know it's the pot calling the kettle black if you get on to me drinking when you've spent the day at the bar," Addie felt compelled to point out in her own defense. "Though I suppose it might have been a different type of drinking."

"Just alcohol," Damon said as he stroked her hair. "It was Stefan who sampled every girl who came in a ten foot radius."

Addie frowned. Talk about a world turned upside down. "That sounds a little backwards."

"Yes, well, mixing a diet of fresh blood and blood bags can be hard on the stomach." Truth was, after Addie, they all just smelled _sour._

"If you had to resort to plan B, I'm guessing your plan of breakouts, booze, blondes, and brotherly bonding was an epic fail," she mumbled, wrapping her arm around his waist and pulling herself closer to him.

"Worked better than I hoped. Wasn't Stefan who ripped into my chest." He paused dramatically, letting the tension grow. "It was Mikael, Ads. We got Mikael."

She tilted her face up and rolled her eyes at his smile. "That's brilliant," Addie said quietly, the sarcasm barely detectable in her voice. "So now my vampire boyfriend has found the immortal _vampire_ vampire hunter that frightens the most intimidating guy that we know. My vampire boyfriend is excited to have found the world's greatest vampire hunter, who's already tried to rip out his heart."

"Relax. Stefan and I have complete immunity from Mikael."

"Oh, yeah, no, as long as _you_ are safe it's all good. It's not like we don't have Caroline or Tyler or Rebekah around for him to kill!"

Damon scowled. He guessed she'd pitch a fit if he asked if they really mattered. "Look, the point is that we're going to be free of Klaus soon."

Growing restless, Addie moved up to bury her face where Damon's neck and shoulder met and moved her arm to drape across his chest. There was still so many things that didn't add up. "How did you even get Mikael? How'd he find you?"

"No idea. I guess Katherine came through," he smirked, raising a smug eyebrow at her.

"So we give her credit for once in how many times? I do have school tomorrow so I don't think I can list every single time and way she's screwed you over. With her you just-" she abruptly cut off at the chilly look from Damon. He was more than ready to give her a fight if she wanted to picked one. Addie rolled her eyes and turned away from him. "We just simply shouldn't discuss either one of the DoubleMint twins and your susceptibility to them."

Damon laughed humorlessly and rubbed his hands over his face. It was possible that flirting with her sister all summer and then kissing Katherine hadn't been the best way to act out his jealousy, anger, and boredom. Addie didn't act like she really cared but perhaps she did. It had always meant nothing, though.

"Do you _really_ want to bring your sister into this?" he muttered. He took her silence as a 'no.' Still, she was edgier than usual and had been since he came back. His light grey t-shirt hung loosely on her and Damon gently tugged at the back of it. Softly he urged, "Come back here. Tell me what's wrong."

Addie didn't curl up next to him but at least turned to focus on him. "Have you ever-," she shook her head. "Stupid question. Of course you have." She fell quiet as she a finger from the base of his sternum and over his heart. The steady thumping she felt was a reassurance of his safety, especially after seeing so much blood on him. His skin had returned to normal, no longer pink from freshly healing.

"What's wrong?" Insisted Damon. He picked Addie's hand off of his chest and intertwined his fingers with hers. Squeezing gently he laid their hands between them on the pillow. With a crooked smile he tried to coax her, "Come on. I know you, Ads. Something has to be bugging you if you touched a $900 bottle of bourbon."

Her jaw dropped in shock and Damon could see she was going to apologize but he shook his head. "It's no worry. I have five more bottles in the cellar."

"I had no idea," she muttered before inhaling sharply and resolving, "but I refuse to feel guilty about it because no one should own a bottle of alcohol worth that much."

Damon hummer and kissed her on the forehead as a small smile tugged at his lips. "Oh, love, that's more towards the cheap end of my collection."

"You spend money on the stupidest things."

"Says the girl sleeping in a $400 t-shirt because it's just so soft and comfortable," he retorted, mimicking her as he described the shirt in her words. His fingers twisted in the hem of the shirt and lifted it until his hand rested on her lower back, pulling her lower body towards him. It wasn't his fault that she was warm and comforting. Plus, she knew he loved cuddling. He had been open and vulnerable enough to admit that to her. And she cared about him enough to embrace it, literally. Physical contact was something that Addie didn't take lightly; her personal space was very important. Damon sometimes forgot just how lucky he was to hold and touch her and know that she _wanted_ to do the same to him. Most of the time. He grinned when her legs tangled with him. "Sometimes comfort and quality are worth the higher price."

"So, the higher price of dating an egotistical pain in the ass is worth the comfortable feeling I get every time you have a new 'plan' and the quality sheets, shirts, and other fabrics that come with you?" teased Addie.

His lips twitched towards a smug smirk as he thought. "For putting up with _all_ my shit, and it's a lot, you get the comfort of knowing I will do whatever it takes to make you happy and you get to experience my quality kissing, cooking, clothes, and, well, everything about me is high quality."

Addie's mouth pinched as she fought a smile. His ego was already big enough without her stroking it. "It's only in your head that your cooking is high quality."

Damon leaned in and kissed her softly. He couldn't help the slight grin as he rested his cheek on their interlaced hands still resting on the pillow. As long as he didn't try to trick her into eating anything she didn't like, Addie loved his cooking and he knew it. With slight amusement he retorted, "Glad that's your only complaint."

"Well, i could list a few more if want."

"Mm-mmm. I'm happy pretending that it's just my cooking that isn't awesome," he said quietly, simply watching her. She was a little better but something was still bothering her.

After several long minutes of nothing but the generated sound of crashing waves Addie mused, "I forgot about your brooding stare." She scoffed quietly, "We have so much to talk about and yet neither one of us do. All summer I planned everything I would say if I could just have one more of our late night talks." Her hand anxiously twitched in his but she resisted the desire to pull away just to play with hair. "And now I can't think of what I was going to say as you lay right next to me." A lump formed in her throat and her eyes burned. Damon debated saying something but he had a feeling she wasn't finished. Her voice was strained as she continued, "And I can't seem to think straight. I can't even remember how we got this way. I should be holding it together but," Addie shook her head and a tear leaked from her eye.

Instantly, Damon's thumb was gently sweeping away the drop. He had absolutely no idea what she was going on about or why she was upset. One of the things that frustrated him the most about their relationship was that she could practically read his mind. Even if he wanted to, he doubted he could hide something he did from her. Addie, somehow, had come to understand nearly everything he did, even when she didn't agree with it. He could barely follow her line of thinking through an entire conversation.

"Ads, what's wrong?" He wasn't asking anymore; if something was making her that upset he would find out what it was.

Addie bit at her lip nervously. If she confessed everything to him, it could completely change things. She took in a shuddering breath, "You always say I'm too _good_ , too _moral_ but you're wrong."

"Yeah, I know. You proved that you can be bad," Damon chuckle, picking up a lock of blue hair and brushing it over her face, to emphasis his point.

"No," she whined, wanting him to understand. More tears fell down her face. "I did something bad, Damon."

He brushed away the tears with the back of his finger. It was unsettling to see her so upset over something she did. "You don't even know a fraction of the horrible things I've done. Love, I'm sure you've done nothing compared to me."

"Yes but you're… I don't expect you to be good," she mumbled.

His jaw tensed and relaxed. That was true. Addie didn't expect anything from him. And it was liberating. Suddenly he worried, "Do you think I expect you to be good?" She raised a should noncommittally. "Love, good, bad, whatever you want to label it, I don't care what you do as long as you're happy. You're obviously not, which I'm not ok with. Whatever this bad thing is, it's all right," he consoled.

"Damon, I just know what I want and I think it's messing with my ability to tell right and wrong apart."

"I'm gonna need further explanation on that."

Without looking him in the eye, Addie told Damon everything that she had learned from Rebekah. She didn't realize how she clutched at his hand tighter when she informed him about the discrepancy between Rebekah's story and the cave.

"Everyone wanted me to tell Rebekah Klaus killed her mother so she would want to kill him, too," Addie sighed heavily.

He had to close his eyes so she wouldn't see them roll. While it had worked out to his benefit, _why_ did his girlfriend have to keep making friends with the bad vampires? It wasn't possible for him to predict her all the time but this time it was obvious. Opposed to asking he stated, "You didn't want to tell her because it would hurt her and yet you told her."

"I didn't want to," she whispered. "But someone was going to and she said she'd rather hear it from me."

Addison Gilbert needed to come with a manual. Not seeing the problem, Damon double checked to make sure he understood correctly, "No matter what Rebekah was going to hear something painful. You think you did something bad because you're the one that told her?"

"There was no reason for her to know!" Addie lamented. "To learn that your sibling killed your parent?"

That made a little more sense. Damon would never claim Addie was right or rational to blame Elena for their parents' death but after several failed arguments he wasn't stupid enough to try again to convince her of that. Of course Addie would ridiculously relate to Rebekah on the whole parent/sibling murder issue.

"She was going to learn one way or another. I'm sure you were a lot nicer about it than anyone else would have been," he said as gently as he could. His patience was more reserved for actual problems.

"That's not the point! I should have convinced everyone to keep their damn mouths shut. Or I shouldn't have said anything when we got to interpreting that part of the wall!" she snapped back in a scolding told. Damon knew she was just mad at herself.

He sighed as he tucked her hair behind her ear. "I get why you wanted to protect her from the truth but if it's one more person, one who happens to be immortal, on our side against Klaus when she would otherwise rip all our hearts out for killing him, it was kind of necessary," he reasoned.

"Why?" asked Addie, her tone almost begging for an answer. "How does destroying her image of her brother help?"

"It means we don't have to worry about her killing us when Mikael kills him." Didn't he just say that? She wasn't listening to reason. Damon licked his lips, trying not to be annoyed when she was clearly so upset. Firmly he demanded, "What is this really about, Addie? You know the situation with Rebekah isn't your fault.

"I can't tell right from wrong because I don't want to kill Klaus," she rushed out.

At first Damon waited for her to say more. When he realized she wasn't going to, he picked apart what she said twenty different ways. There was only one sensible interpretation. "You think you can't tell right from wrong because you are morally conflicted about killing someone which only proves you can tell right from wrong."

"No," she said flatly. "I can't tell because I don't want to kill Klaus. Killing him is right because we free Stefan and Elena stops being a living blood bag. But it's wrong because I don't think bringing Mikael here and putting everyone, including you, at risk from him is worth killing Klaus. It's selfish and I know you feel the opposite but to _me_ , your life isn't worth Stefan's freedom. I mean, without any humanity, is he free even if we break Klaus' hold? From what you said, it just sounds like we'll have an uncontrollable bloodaholic." Addie voice faltered and she pulled away from Damon. Her eyes couldn't meet his baffled ones as she confessed, "I've _watched_ your brother do - I've seen Stefan - The things-" She couldn't get it out. She could tell Damon about the horrors his little brother had inflicted. A chill ran through her at the memory. "No," she shrugged simply, "it's not worth the risk to you or to my family and friends. Klaus poses no active threat. Things are _calm_."

Damon rubbed at his chin. That wasn't an easy argument to counter. Ripper Stefan was a terror and his handy work would leave horror filmmakers inspired. He had hoped Addie hadn't witnessed anything while she was with him and Klaus but that obviously wasn't true. There wasn't a way he could convince Addie he could handle Stefan if she had seen him in action. Not unless he got into a fight with Stefan, though, that was a risky idea. Even if Damon was stronger and faster, without humanity his brother would be ruthless and rip his heart out if he got the chance. With a sudden inspiration he opened his mouth to speak but Addie actually covered it with her hand.

"Whatever you say, whatever your plan is, none of that matter anymore," she whispered in defeat. "Mikael's coming. This is just another problem you can't fix."

* * *

 **A/N: Another long one! So, do you guy prefer I stick to the show (the chapters would definitely be shorter) or keep adding little scenes between Damon and Addie (I wouldn't cut them out entirely, just have fewer)? Thank you for all your favorites and follows. And a huge thank you for those of you leaving reviews!**


	10. Chapter 9

Addie groaned when Damon shifted his arm from under her. Resting with her back against his arm and her legs stretched out on the couch had been perfectly comfortable.

"Relax, grumpy," he chuckled. Pressing his arm between her and the couch he curled it around her waist, nudging her elbows out of the way. "I just had to move a little. My arm was starting to fall asleep." His fingertips lightly stroked up and down her side as he returned to reading _Don Quixote._ Cervantes' works were so much better in their original language, Spanish, than in translation.

"Fine," she retorted. Addie shifted so her head rested against the arm of the couch, trapping his arm under her neck. When she brought up her copy of Homer's _The Iliad_ , she knew she was slightly obscuring Damon's view of his book.

Rolling his eyes, Damon just repositioned his novel. His small grin turned into a grimace when his gaze flickered from the text and to her face. Her eyebrows were knitted together and her mouth set in a slight bought. He recognized that look. Wondering if he would regret his inquiry, he asked, "You've read that book twenty times; I know you're not having a problem understanding it. So what, pray tell, has you thinking so hard?"

"Languages," she scowled.

Cryptic. Addie had an annoying quirk of either using too many words and never making her point clear or not fully explaining her point or reasoning but expecting everyone else to still understand her.

"Yes, languages are so horrible. Can you believe people were awful enough to craft words, assign them meaning, make sentences?" Conspiratorially he whispered, "Do you know what is the worst part? They had the nerve to put them down on paper and make stories!" He shook his book in mock anger. "It's shear madness, I tell you! I don't see why we need language to communicate at all. Sex is a much more effective form."

"Dick," she grinned, playfully pushing his face away. "I was thinking about the languages they teach in school: Spanish, German, French and Latin. Why those languages? I get Spanish; it's the second most widely spoken language. If they're teaching us things for practical purposes it doesn't make sense. German ranks 11th and French as 18th in the list of most commonly spoken languages. And Latin is a dead language!"

Damon had to make sure he kept a serious face. While Addie's little quirks could get tedious, he couldn't help but love them. Finding something to talk about was rarely an issue. Trying not to sound amused he reminded her, "You take Latin, love. I don't think you get to use the practicality argument."

"Well, of course I do!" she chided. "Where do the majority of English words have their root? When I take the SAT and come up on a word that means nothing to me, I can likely deduce the meaning if I know the root. And I didn't take Latin to talk with people; I took it to read some of the world's greatest pieces of literature in their original language. Something always gets lost in translation. I just wish I could take ancient Greek so I could read this," she waved her book in his face, "in it's proper form."

Leaning over her, Damon tossed his book onto the coffee table. "You are _so_ not normal," he declared, turning his arm to run his fingers through her hair.

Addie gave him a look that clearly said he was needlessly pointing out a well known fact. She sighed, closing _The Iliad_ and resting it on her stomach, "Damon, _date night_ constitutes sitting by the fire in the library reading our own separate books, not talking to each other. Neither of us are normal."

Damon was quick to defend himself, "I said we could do whatever you wanted. You picked this. I suggested more exciting things but _this_ is what you said you wanted."

"And it was! It is! A moment of peace and quiet and not worrying or thinking about all the problems loom over us is a nice break." Shaking her head, Addie moved his arm from around her waist and sat up. She stared into the log fire burning in the huge open grate. Its light danced over the walls and furniture, amber and warming, accompanied by crackling and popping as the oak logs slowly turned to ash.

"What did I do?" he asked warily after letting her stew for a minute or two.

"Nothing," she mumbled bitterly as she leaned forward, her elbows resting on her knees, "it's just that _now_ all I can think about is those problems."

His arm looped around her shoulders, pulling her back towards him. "No, no, no, no. We're not doing any of that tonight."

She snorted slightly as her lips pressed together in a hard line. "You think that I can stop stressing over those things now that they've entered my mind?"

"It's simple. Just build a brick wall between you and those obsessive thoughts."

"Says the guy who obsessed with the same woman for over 145 years."

His fingers rapped on the arm of the couch in the awkward silence that stretched out. Damon wasn't sure if he imagined it or if was true but Addie seemed to be more jealous since she'd been back. He wasn't sure if that was typical girl behavior or if something more was going on. When Katherine had been around after being freed from the tomb Addie had been physically possessive of him and she had never been fond of him being around Elena but he understood both those things. Katherine had been trying to sleep with him and Elena he'd had wanted at one point and Elena had sort of led him on. One of the things he had liked about her was how little she got jealous, though.

"What are you thinking about?" Damon asked as he got up to pour a measure of bourbon.

Addie turned around and snatched the filled tumbler off the table before Damon could say anything. He gave her a challenging look which she returned with one that dared him to say something. Instead he fetched another glass from in the cabinet. She watched him pour another for himself as she answered, "Right now I'm wondering if Rebekah is off with Tyler considering she's not here."

"Why does that matter?"

Her head fell onto his shoulder when he sat down next to her. Heavily she sighed, "It all matters. If she's bonding with Tyler and honing the hybrid in him that means she's still doing what Klaus wants."

"Drink," he ordered.

"Huh?"

"Drink," he repeated. "We're not thinking about that stuff tonight. Every time you do, you drink."

"We're turning this into a drinking game?" she scoffed in disbelief. None the less she took a sip from the glass, the liquid sweeter and stronger than she had expected.

Damon nodded as he swallowed some of his own. "Until you learn to think about something else. I already told you we're not thinking about that tonight. Tonight we are a normal _abnormal_ couple. We can only think about normal, relationship-y things. For example, we could discuss how amazing I am." Addie drank. "What was that for?"

She smirked coyly at him. "Just thinking about the amazing things my boyfriend has done recently. They're definitely on the 'do no think about' list."

Fair enough. She still wasn't happy about him recruiting Mikael. "We can discuss homecoming and-"

"Nothing to discuss," Addie declared firmly. "I don't like social gatherings. Last school dance I went to was crashed by Klaus. As far as the world is concerned, we're not together so I'm lacking date. And I really don't want to get sucked into going dress shopping with Caroline." She drank again. At Damon's questioning look she said, "My good friend is a vampire and her date is a brainwashed hybrid."

Damon's lips pursed. This was harder than he had thought. Addie took another sip. He gave her incredulous, defensive look. "I didn't even say anything!"

"In the silence my mind turned to Stefan and now I'm kinda worried about where he is and what trouble he might be creating."

"That is… a disturbing thought," he admitted.

She finished her glass. Dryly Addie laughed, "And that was because it's terrifying when you don't have any words of comfort about what Stefan might be doing because it means you have no clue and if you don't know then that…." She trailed off as she stared into her glass. Suddenly she cocked her head at him in confusion. "Are you _trying_ to get me drunk?"

"What? Why would I be trying to do that?" Damon scoffed defensively. "I'm not trying to sleep with you. I'm not trying to trick you. I don't see why I would be trying to do that."

"Well, you're you and that drinking game was kind of rigged. I don't see why either but I figured I should ask."

He chuckled, "No, I just thought coming up with a distracting topic would be a lot easier."

Addie eyed him suspiciously when he grinned at her mischievously. "What?"

"I just realized," he said slowly, taking her glass and sitting it next to his empty one on the table, "That we have the house all to ourselves."

"I don't think so," she giggled, shaking her head. That gleam in his eye was never a good sign.

Damon inhaled loudly, scrunched his face up as he pretended to think and let out a long sigh. "Yeah," he concluded, fegein sympathy as he nodded his head, "I'm afraid so."

"Damon," she warned as he angled himself to face her better, his hand settling on her hip.

"You know, this is a really big house," he murmured, brushing the hair off her neck. He leaned in close, his breath a warm breeze against her neck as he spoke, "There are many places besides my bedroom."

The fabric of his navy button up bunched under her fingers as she made to push him away until Addie felt his lips barely brush over her pulse point, speeding up her heart. "Damon," she repeated, her voice still firm but quieter. "Rebekah and Stefan, they could come home."

His mouth hovered just below her ear as he tsked softly and lightly chastised, "We're not supposed to be thinking about them tonight."

"That doesn't mean-" her breath caught as his teeth skimmed her earlobe, "doesn't mean they stop existing." .

"No," Damon agreed, his lips a hair's width apart from hers, "but I promised you a night of without those dark thoughts and I intend on delivering." She gave a hesitant, wary sound as their mouths met. Quickly he pulled away, swearing under his breath. "I'm sorry," he breathed urgently. "I thought - Ads, you know I would stop with a single word. I just-"

Addie shushed him, placing a single finger over his lips. When she was sure he wasn't going to talk her hand slipped behind his head and pulled him back to her. It was barely a kiss, just the slightest touching of lips. From the back of his neck to over his shoulder her hand traveled, squeezing the firm muscle beneath his sleeves as she moved towards his hand. Slowly her fingers encircled his wrist, gently tugging and guiding him until his hand was holding her hip again.

"I trust you," she whispered. "I just…"

Damon kissed her forehead and reassured her, "It's ok. Love, I've always told you that you don't have to explain yourself to me."

She shook her head, her cheeks coloring. "It's not that; it's just, um, you'll be able to hear them coming, right?"

"Of course but I don't want you to-"

"You can keep talking or you can shut up and kiss me before I change my mind."

Smirking, Damon pressed a light kiss to her lips. He was surprised when he felt her tugging at his collar, wanting him closer. His hand twisted in her hair as her lips mold and moved in perfect synchronization with his. Her mouth easily parted under his. His tongue briefly toyed with the piercing in hers causing her to shiver. Addie could feel his smug smile. Taking that as a challenge, she took control of the kiss. Damon stifled a groan when her teeth snapped at his bottom lip. He realized that as she was still tugging him by the collar, her head was pressing back into his palm. Over the curve of her hip and under her shirt he found the small of her back. Trying to figure out if he was reading her correctly he gently pushed and her back arched. Trusting his instincts he slowly guided her to laying on the couch, giving her every chance to stop him. Though she was the one with her hand around his neck, trying to move him faster.

Addie whined in protest when Damon broke the kiss. He laughed as he reached back and grabbed the throw pillow from behind him.

"Excuse me for considering your comfort," he snickered, motioning for her to lift her head so he could put the pillow in place. "I can assure you I'm not denying your advances."

"You're a dick," Addie replied matter of factly, a light blush coloring her cheeks.

"And yet you still love me," Damon smirked, leaning back in to kiss her.

"No," she retorted sharply, turning her face so he got her cheek.

Right. She could only _almost_ admit that when he was on his deathbed. "Ok. You still really, really like me," he corrected, trying again for a kiss.

Addie shook her head and shrugged innocently, a teasing smile pulling at the corners of her mouth. "No. Truth is that I'm just not that into you anymore."

"Liar," he accused. He gently caught her chin and swiftly pressed his lips to hers before letting her turn away again.

She bit her lip as his brushed along the column of her throat. Fighting to keep her voice steady Addie quipped back, "I know it's a shock but not everyone falls for that bad boy charm and those piercing baby blues."

"Oh, I know," Damon replied smugly, He began placing tepid kisses and nips along her neck, in between them saying, "You fell for _me_. Not my style. Not my charm. Not my good looks. Nor my unflinching ability to listen to Taylor Swift."

Humming she rubbed at the toned forearms exposed by his pushed up sleeves. "No but all those did make falling for you easier," she considered.

"So that Taylor Swift concert you blackmailed me into, I got bonus points for that? I didn't spend eight hours waiting in line and another three losing my hearing for no reason?" he asked curiously.

"Blackmailed? You owed me for dragging your ass out of that fire," scoffed Addie.

"Which you were partially responsible for!"

Damon groaned when her lips pursed, smug and knowing; her victory smile. Her tone reflected her face as she questioned, "Did you or did you not benefit from that concert? It's where you finally figured out I liked you."

"Which didn't do me very much good since, you know, you didn't trust me and we still couldn't be together and blah, blah, blah. Though I do remember something like _this_." The tips of his fingers danced along her jaw as he met Addie in a passionate kiss. He took full advantage of her soft gasp, starting a fast dance between their tongues focused on touch, sensation, and the shared hints of caramel from the bourbon. Damon could sense her hands moving but he couldn't discern to where. It didn't matter, though; that wasn't how the kiss had gone. In a flash he had her wrist pinned next to her head.

Eventually she turned from him, her chest rapidly rising and falling. "And I," she recollected breathily, "said something about human lung capacity." Damon hummed in agreement as he placed featherlight kisses across her jaw, chin and the corners of her mouth. Victoriously, Addie concluded, "You benefitted."

"Benefitted? That just triggered my desperate, pathetic obsession over you," he countered, his teeth grazing the shell of her ear.

She broke free of his hold to slip her hands in his hair, gently tugging because he liked it and generally dishevelling it since having it out of place annoyed him and she liked it that way. "So, you admit you're obsessed?" Addie revelled, her breathing catching slightly.

"Of course." He nibbled lightly at her earlobe. "I've told you all love is desperate, pathetic and obsessive. Now, stop sounding so cavalier. This relationship can barely handle the strain of my ego. We don't need to be adding yours." Damon nipped just below her ear, making sure his canines gently scraped against the tender skin. "Understood?"

"You're such a -" Addie moaned as he snapped hard at the center of her neck.

"A dick," Damon finished for her with a smug sense of satisfaction. "I know," he murmured, blowing a steady stream of cool air over the damp skin.

Her chin tilted up, allowing him easier access to her throat. Softly he bit up and down the length of it. A lazy grin played at his lips as she began to tug at his hair. He couldn't resist himself when she huffed in frustration.

"What's wrong?" he asked sweetly, nuzzling where her neck and shoulder met.

Addie's lips pursed; two could play his game. His breathing increased as her nails lightly scratched at him as they moved down the back of neck, under the collar of his shirt, over his shoulders, and around to the to the top most button closed. Toying with the button she pouted, "You're not being very nice."

Damon sharply closed his teeth around he nuzzled, eliciting a soft gasp as he worried at the tender area. Innocently he mused, "Considering I'm a dick I thought I was being extremely nice."

"That was nicer," she blushed, flicking open the button and moving down to the next.

"So, I'm nice when I leave you with a bruise and I'm being mean if I don't leave a mark," he reflected. Higher on her neck he sharply nipped and suckled. His hiss reverberated through her when she undid the button and scraped down his sternum and the top of his abs to the next; she wasn't supposed to be teasing him. With a smirk he taunted, "That simply doesn't sound healthy, Ads."

Intent on blatantly ignoring him being a pain in the pain, Addie popped the remaining buttons out of their holes. She tried to remove his shirt but he somehow squared his shoulders so that she couldn't even get it off of them. Her eyes flickered to his amused ones in exasperation and she knew nothing was happening until she acknowledged what he had said.

"You know it's not like that," she muttered, her cheeks coloring.

In laughter Damon challenged, "It's exactly like that."

Addie glared at him. "What game are you playing? What do you want to hear?"

"The truth," he baited, a broad, toothy grin plastered on his face.

"It's not like hickeys are from you hurting me and when you don't leave them you're just being a dick," she rushed out in a single breath, her eyes focused on his chest. "Happy?"

"Why do you say I am being a dick?" badgered Damon.

Bastard knew exactly how. Annoyed, she demanded, "Why are you doing this?"

He gave her a genuine smile and wink at this. "You're really cute when you turn all red and bashful. Unfortunately, it's becoming a lot harder to embarrass you."

After a minute of consideration Addie declared, "I'm done."

"What?" Damon asked blankly.

"Your game. This. I'm done," she shrugged, pushing at his chest.

"No," he begged. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. No more games," he promised, kissing at the other side of her neck. "I'll be nice."

She hummed in consideration. The soft material of his shirt glided down to his elbows when she tried to remove it again. "Take this off."

"Bossy," Damon snickered, still tugging off his shirt and draping it over the back of the couch.

"Shut up," admonished Addie, grabbing at his bicep, trying to bring him back down to her.

He shook his head, smirking, "See what I mean?"

"Stop being mean and kiss me."

"That still sounds like an order," he contended as he slowly rolled her shirt up to expose her stomach. Gently he tugged at the stars and moon charm that dangled from her bellybutton ring.

She gave him a challenging look as she took a nail and rake it through the dusting of hair from the bottom of his bellybutton and down to the top of his jeans. Damon watched her coolly as she bit at her lip. Addie didn't have the nerve. It was a test to see who'd blink first and he wasn't concerned.

"Damon," Addie drew out as she pushed at his jeans until she reached the top of his boxers.

The corners of his lips twitched. He wasn't sure if that was meant as a warning or a plea; either way she was rather adorable when she didn't get her way. Damon brushed her hand away; having a power struggle with words when there was a far more entertaining option was stupid. In a flash his lips were skimming over her stomach. He grinned when, rather than snap at him for his speed, she gasped, tensed and buried her fingers in his hair.

"I love you so much," Damon murmured between heated kisses. He circled around her bellybutton until he pulled at the dangling charms with his teeth. Satisfaction prickled through him as her fingers clutched at his dark locks. Right over her hipbone he nipped and worried the thin layer of skin until there was a bright red mark. It was a shame that one would disappear when he healed up all the love bites he left on her neck. Not that he was having any possessive ideas of marking her as his.

"Damon," she trembled as his lips pressed in a line just above her pants.

"Too far, I know. I apologize," he said quickly. Chastely he kissed her cheek and rested his weight on his forearm as he squeezed next to her on the couch. Just because he was thinking of moving things along and _believed_ that to be what she wanted, didn't mean they shouldn't discuss it first.

Addie shook her head insistently. "No, no, that was… nice," she flushed.

"Good," he whispered. "But what _is_ wrong?"

She huffed in annoyance, "It's just this whole couch thing. It makes for a really crappy power structure."

"Happy now?" asked Damon once he used his speed to lay down and sit Addie just above his waist.

Her deep blue eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What are you up to?"

He shrugged in confusion, "You wanted control."

"Yeah and you don't like that," she retorted, jabbing him the chest. "So why are you giving it up?"

His brows furrowed as he realized, "If I didn't switch positions with you then you'd just get moody. I did what you wanted and now you're questioning my motives. This seems rigged."

"It's really confusing when you do something without some kind of," she raised a shoulder, at a lost for words, "you know."

"Or," Damon muttered as he pressed his thumbnail into his index finger, making it bleed slightly, "that's just how it always seems because we make everything too damn complicated."

Addie pushed his offered finger away as she took on one of his mischievous grins. "We still have the house to ourselves."

"Oh," he hummed appreciatively.

His bottom lip was drawn between his teeth as he watched the heels of her hands push into his abdominals and up his chest, leaving a wake of fire in her path. Growling softly he pushed himself onto his elbows and caught her chin between his index finger and thumb. Addie let him guide her into a kiss but she quickly took control of it. Her teeth caught his lower lip, tugging and snipping until he became completely pliant and relaxed under the hands that explored his bared chest and arms. The most control Addie gave Damon was letting him pull her down as he laid back on the couch. Smirking, she broke off the kiss and tilted his chin up with her finger. His breathing caught as her teeth lightly grazed over his adam's apple; it bobbed as he swallowed hard. As she nibbled along his collarbone his fingers clenched at her hips.

"Fucking hell," growled Damon as Addie suddenly and sharply bit at his neck. She briefly tensed and he thought he was going to have to remind her _again_ that it would take a lot more than that to hurt him but she relaxed and her teeth dug further into his skin. His hands found their way into her back pockets. Taken aback by this action Addie gasped softly; that was breaking his first rule of physical boundaries - hands above the belt.

Encouragingly, experimentally Damon gently squeezed. Again Addie's teeth snapped around the cords of muscle straining in his neck, muffling her moan. He groaned, the volume increasing as her nails dug into his side and shoulder.

"What the hell are you two if you aren't dating?" interrupted a snide, familiar voice.

Both Addie and Damon sat up in surprise. Already blushing from being caught, Addie colored further when she brushed against Damon as she shifted in his lap.

"I don't see how that's any of your business," he sneered at Rebekah.

"I don't see why you two are hiding the fact that you're together," she retorted, casually leaning against the door, arms crossed.

Addie's arms wound around Damon's neck, blocking as much of his bared torso from the blonde's view as possible. Watching Rebekah over her shoulder she casually lied, "We're not together."

"Then what are you?"

"We were busy before you oh so rudely interrupted," snapped Damon.

"Obviously. Also obvious proof that you are together," the Original snickered.

Addie rolled her eyes and sighed dramatically, "No, it's not. Rebekah, I've told you that we're over numerous times. Damon makes for a crappy boyfriend. But, really, I'd have to be brain dead if I gave up the physical benefits. Why do you think I don't have a problem sharing his bed?"

"Addie," Rebekah said, mildly scandalized and equally impressed, "I didn't take you for the type."

"Oh, please. Just because you think I'm a nun because we weren't fucking doesn't mean I can't still have him as a boy toy."

Damon raised an eyebrow at Addie. Boy toy? Really? He was in a monogamous, non-sexual, non-relationship arrangement? That was the least believable thing he had ever heard. What was Addie thinking? He somehow doubt she actually wanted people to believe they were just having a physical relationship.

Rebekah raised her hands in surrender and winked as she backed out of the library. "I knew you weren't completely stupid."

Addie waited about thirty seconds before smacking Damon in the chest with the back of her hand.

"Ow!" he complained, despite it not even hurting. "What was that for?"

" _You_ were supposed to be listening for her or Stefan," she hissed quietly.

"It's not _my_ fault my ears were filled with a different sound," he retorted defensively.

She rolled her eyes and scoffed, "Oh, yes, I suppose it's mine." Damon shrugged. She huffed indignantly, "It is not!"

"I wasn't the one-"

"You're breaking your own rule," flushed Addie as Damon's hands, still in her back pockets, gently squeezed and kneaded.

His hands froze as he cocked his head at her, suddenly feeling slightly anxious. "Does it bother you?"

She shook her head, coloring further. "No."

"Good," he grinned, resuming his ministrations, "because I find I quite like it."

* * *

Without knocking Addie strolled into the bedroom Rebekah was using, letting the door slam shut behind her. The hot pink decor was almost enough to make her gag. None the less, she flung herself across the bed and stared at the ceiling, ignoring the pointed look from the other girl sitting at a desk.

"Don't you know how to be considerate?" Rebekah scowled, returning to painting her nails red.

"You definitely weren't when you interrupted Damon and me," Addie quickly countered. She was still annoyed at both vampires for that.

"Fair enough. What do you want?"

Sighing, she rolled onto her stomach and rested her chin in her hand. "You're the only one who didn't roll out the welcome wagon when Mikael showed up. I figure you're the only sane person in the house."

The blonde eyed her skeptically; knowing Addie that wasn't necessarily a good thing. "How do you connect the two?"

"You've got two vampires conspiring with a _vampire_ vampire hunter and a human in love with both of the two idiotic vampires, one of whom has no humanity. And I live here which obviously makes my already questionable sanity an impossibility. You rationally fear the vampire hunter and have sworn off Stefan until he learns how to play nice, making you the sanest one in this house," Addie reasoned.

"So, they're going to kill Nik?" asked Rebekah, trying to sound casual.

Addie shrugged and then nodded. "That's the plan but I don't know if they will be able to."

"Why not? They have Mikael."

"They do but Klaus is smart," she reasoned. "Their plan to get Klaus here is to have Stefan tell him that Mikael's been daggered, which my sister is actually going to do since Stefan can't lie to , your brother is… well, their whole plan is contingent on Klaus believing just Stefan. I just can't see him not seconding guessing Stefan or suspecting a trap. They think they've got this all covered but everyone is walking around with rose colored glasses."

Addie studied Rebekah carefully as she watched the other girl gently blow at her freshly painted nails. Rebekah had to think this was her own idea. Addie just wasn't sure that she was mad enough at him for killing their mother to want to help bring about his demise.

"Klaus will suspect something but I can make him think otherwise," the Original sister finally said haughtily.

* * *

Damon sat on the arm of the couch, curling a strand of Addie's blue hair around his finger. She batted at his hand without looking up from her copy of _The Iliad_ and scoot closer towards the center of the couch. She'd had quite an attitude with him since Mikael had shown up on the doorstep that afternoon, ready to kill Klaus. First of all, she had very little confidence in his plan and was certain either Mikael or Klaus was going to kill him. Second, when she'd found out that he'd invited Elena to get involved on the plan she went off on a bit of a rant about how everyone she cared about was going to end up dead. Even if she was pissed at him, he at least knew she still cared about him.

Addie's focus was drawn from her book as Stefan spoke into the phone saying, "Your father is dead." A heartbeat passed. "Oh, my mistake. Not your actual father and not dead. Mikael. Daggered. What do you want me to do with the body?" he asked flatly. Addie rolled her eyes as Stefan launched into the stupid story that they had actually had to act out in order for Stefan to tell Klaus the truth.

"Mikael showed up at the house. He tried to grab Elena so he could use her as bait. Damon and I startled with some vervain. We found a dagger he planned to use on Rebekah but instead Elena drove it into his heart." Stefan fell quiet for a second. "Well, he is here. Come by whenever." Another pause. "It's true I saw it with my own eyes." His brows furrowed. "That's not a problem. She is right here."

Addie looked up from her book when she felt the silence had stretched a little too long and was surprised to find everyone staring at her, Stefan holding the phone towards her. She eyed them all skeptically as they looked at her expectantly. What the hell? Why did Klaus want to talk to her? She had made it very clear and obvious that she wanted nothing to do with their half baked plan. Her arms crossed stubbornly as she looked away from the phone.

Sighing, Damon snatched the cell from his brother and shoved it into his girlfriend's hand. She glowered at him but he just mimed talking into a phone. He knew she disagreed with this idea but that didn't mean she had to go and wreck it!

"Niklaus," she snapped into the phone warily.

"Addison!" he replied brightly. "How are you doing?"

"What do you want?"

"Fine; I'll skip the pleasantries. What scheming is going on?" demanded Klaus.

Addie shook her head, even though he couldn't see her. "I have no idea. See, unlike everyone else, I'm not an idiot. When a _vampire_ vampire hunter that _you_ have the sense to fear shows up I'm smart enough to run and not return until he's gone or taken care of. Really, it's not like me to take on the role of the hero."

"Oh, but that's exactly like you. Isn't that why you agreed to our summer arrangement? To protect everyone you love? So you understand if I get the sense you're lying to me," he replied glibly.

She exhaled long and loudly, "I ended up with you because I could _reason_ with you. I'm not stupid enough to believe that I could reason with Mikael." Addie glared pointedly at Damon."If I lied to you, you'd just kill everyone I love or, you know, order someone to do that if I _was_ stupid enough to double cross you. So, tell me, why would I scheme against you?"

"Perhaps you're smart enough not to but what about your friends?"

"Do you think I would let them do something as stupid as sign their own death wish and just watch? I don't know what you want me to tell you because that's the truth. I apologize that the world isn't one big ball of paranoia. Is there anything else I can do for you?" she asked curtly, her voice steady with false confidence.

"Let me speak to Rebekah," he glowered.

Addie passed the phone to the other girl on her way out of the study and into the kitchen. From the cupboard she got a glass and filled it with ice water from the fridge. She finished the water in one take and refilled her cup.

"What the hell was that?" Damon asked, making Addie jump, water sloshing out the side of her glass.

"That was a death threat," she muttered, grabbing a few paper towels to clean up what had spilled on to the floor.

Damon took the napkins from her trembling hands and shook his head. "No, I mean, why did Klaus want to talk to _you_?"

She rolled her eyes as she watched him wipe at the floor. "You heard both ends of the conversation. We both know you did."

Sighing in frustration, he tossed the paper towels away. "I guess I just thought his _obsession_ with you would be over after this summer."

"I thought you wanted him dead because of his _obsession_."

"I, well, yes. He's a threat to you. He's the hunter and you're his prey. It's one of the many reason he has to be taken out," shrugged Damon, running a twitching hand through his hair.

Addie stared at him, shaking her head and whispered, "You're going to get killed."

Cupping her cheeks he rested his forehead against hers and reassured her, "I'm going to be fine."

"Look at who, what you're trusting. Look at who you're trying to kill. One way or the other, you end up dead," she muttered.

"There are risk and it is dangerous," he conceded, "and that's why you are going to have nothing to do with any of this, just like you told Klaus."

She took a step away from him, brushing his hands off her face and scowling, "If you think that I'm going to let my sist-"

"Please stop talking," Damon interjected as he went to the junk drawer and found a piece of paper and pen. He pointed to his ear and then pretended to write on the paper. When she nodded that she understood he leaned against the counter and scribbled out his note.

 _I'm not letting Elena have anything to do with the plan either. Just letting her believe until the last minute. I'm forming a secret back-up plan. Katherine is going to be filling in for Elena._

"What?"

He gave her a look mischievous look before writing again.

 _Wouldn't be a secret if I told you._

"Mature."

"Extremely. I could be all childish and giddy and say everything and then it could be tortured out of you but no, I'm being mature," he said, sticking his tongue.

"You're gonna get screwed."

Damon pulled her into a hug, kissing her forehead. "It will all be fine. Everyone wants the same thing. We've got the advantage. You just do absolutely nothing and don't worry about a thing."

* * *

Addie scowled as she sat on Damon's bathroom sink and read the same line for the fifth time. It was hard to pay attention to Homer when her sister and boyfriend were flirting right in front of her. Well, they weren't really flirting but they were still talking and she didn't like it. Ugh! They had actually done this all summer with actual flirting? She was _so_ not pleased with either one of them.

"Jealousy really doesn't look good on you," Damon muttered as he stirred the wolfsbane mixture for the grenades.

"I'm not," she replied coolly.

He rolled his eyes. "You can lie to the rest of the world but not me."

She closed her book, marking her page with her finger. With a daring look she challenged, "So it's ok for you to be jealous over Elijah and Klaus, for absolutely no reason, but I can't be jealous over my sister, who you will always have feelings for and spent all summer flirting with?"

"My emotions are magnified ten times, yours are not. A little bit of jealousy is healthy. What you're feeling is-"

"You really wanna finish that sentence?" warned Addie.

"No," Damon decided. "You're the one I love, though, now and forever. Whatever happened never meant anything."

"We can't trust Rebekah not to turn on us," Elena called from the bedroom, interrupting their hushed conversation.

"Oh really? Cause these Original vampires are usually so reliable," Damon replied sardonically as he pulled out the grenade bottles.

Elena carried on as if he hadn't said anything, "Bonnie was right. Rebekah may be mad at Klaus now but he is her brother."

"Hey lying, mama-killing, dagger-happy brother. Wolfsbane is ready," he informed Elena as she joined them in the bathroom.

"There are too many things that can go wrong with this plan. Too many people that can make it go wrong."

Damon smirked knowingly as he filled a grenade. "Well, I am formulating a secret contingency plan."

"Really? What is it?" Elena implored eagerly.

"Don't you know the definition of a secret?" Addie said dryly, not looking up from her book. If she couldn't know the plan, Elena better not get to know the plan either.

"I need to borrow a tie," Stefan said, his head appearing around the door frame.

Damon barely gave his brother any attention as he replied, "You have your own times."

"I'm 162 years old and I'm going to a homecoming dance. I need better ties."

Addie raised her eyebrows at Stefan as she teased, "You've got that backwards. You're going to a _high school dance_. You don't need a $300 Stefano Ricci tie. You need a $15 tie from Wal-Mart if you want to blend in."

"Your sense of fashion is limited to Converse. How do you know anything about my ties?" wondered Damon, genuinely perplexed.

"Trust me, you would _love_ to know the answer to that," she replied, a secret smile playing at her lips.

"Yes, that's why I -," Damon interrupted himself as he caught Elena messing with one of the vervain grenades out of the corner of his eyes. He smacked her hand lightly and gingerly took it from her. "Ah- ah! _No_."

Elena glared at him, "I know how to do it! Alaric taught me!"

"Elena, if thing blows up in our faces, just remember: only one of us heals quickly."

Addie grinned as Stefan reappeared. Without his humanity he was actually not so boring.

"Ah, please tell me that you have a better plan than wolfsbane grenades," he muttered skeptically.

She couldn't resist snickering, "When is there ever a plan that is actually halfway decent, Stefan?"

"I know," he grimaced. "My freedom from Klaus rest entirely upon you guys executing your plan perfectly. So, excuse me if I'm a bit cynical and would rather put my faith in something a little more guaranteed than wolfsbane grenades."

"You're the one that we should be worried about," Elena said defensively. "If Klaus ask you one wrong question the whole thing falls apart."

"Like I said, 'when is there even a plan that is actually halfway decent?'" repeated Addie.

"You do have reason to worry, but if I look back in our history of epic plan failures, it's usually because one of us lets our humanity get in the way," Stefan pointed out smugly.

Addie's lips pursed as she reviewed their plans. "I think it could be argued that I am severely lacking in the humanity department. I've pretty much maintained being cold, calculated and calloused."

"That's one of the most illogical things you have ever said. You may not interfere with plans but your humanity is a complicated and tangled little web that no one will ever understand," Damon declared quietly.

"Upon taking odds," continued Stefan, as if he hadn't been interrupted, "on how this thing goes down, it's certainly not gonna be me who screws it up." He turned on his heel and headed towards the door, calling over his shoulder, "I'll see you at homecoming. I can't wait."

"Am I the only one who finds Stefan more entertaining without his humanity?"

Elena scowled at her sister and snapped, "Shut up."

"Why do you find the _bad_ vampires amusing? Do you enjoy playing with fire?" Damon asked wearily.

"I don't think my taste in vampires is related to my fascination with fire," Addie deflected.

"Are you obtuse on purpose? Do you get something out of annoying me?"

"Those are the most ridiculous questions I've ever heard. Since when have I not enjoyed antagonizing you?" she grinned sweetly, innocently kissing him on the cheek.

* * *

"Why aren't you coming to this dance?" Rebekah asked for the tenth time as she pulled on her strappy high heels.

For the tenth time Addie answered, "Big group of people, I don't dig the whole dress look, and some drama always happens."

"Won't you come? For me?" the blonde pleaded.

"As your dearest friend, no. Trust me, Caroline has been bitching at me all week to go. I'm not changing my mind."

Rebekah studied her and hesitantly asked, "Is it because you're going to help Damon and my father with their plan?"

"No, I will have no part in Klaus' demise. Even if I wanted in on the plan, Damon wouldn't let me in on it," she answered truthfully.

"Damon," the Original mused, drawing out his name as she thought. "He's very protective of you." Addie nodded. "And he cares for you a great deal; it's obvious in the way he moves, watches, and treats you."

"Is there a point?" asked Addie, shifting uncomfortably.

"I don't understand why," she answered pointedly. "I mean, I care for you as a friend and I get that but the way he feels goes so much deeper. That, I don't understand."

Addie laughed as she spun in Rebekah's desk chair. "I'd be lying if I said I understood it. Frankly, I don't know what he gets out of it."

"Well, what do you get out of your feelings for him?" The vampire asked as she looked into the mirror and carefully applied mascara.

"I don't-"

"I _know_ you have feelings for him."

Her fingers drummed rhythmically on the desk as Addie tried to think of how she most benefitted from being with Damon; the singular reason she was with him if she had to pick one. Finally she decided, "Acceptance, I get acceptance for who I am from him. I never have to explain why I may act so irrational, he just puts up with it. He rarely lets my annoying quirks and habits get to him and when they do, he still does his best to patient. A lot of people have put up with all my bullshit before but I just walked all over them. While Damon accepts everything about me, he's not afraid to call me out on my shit. And I call out his. It makes things a challenges when we both can be full of crap sometimes but there's just something about knowing that I can't fool him that's nice. Why are we discussing Damon? I feel like we spent the entire summer discussing Damon."

"We did spend the entire summer discussing Damon," Rebekah muttered as she kept her hand steady as she applied her eyeliner. "However the topics up for discussion are my father, my brother, and Damon. I pick Damon."

"I know I'm not the warmest, cuddliest person," Addie admitted hesitantly, "but you can discuss those other things with me."

"I'm worried about what happens after Mikael kills Klaus," she said quietly.

Addie snorted humorlessly, "Well, then he kills the next vampire in closet range, probably Damon, and works his way out, you know, continuing to be a _vampire_ vampire hunter."

"I have a dreadful feeling you're right."

Inspiration suddenly striking her, Addie walked out of the room without any warning. She diverted her eyes as she passed Elena in the hall. Silently, she opened and closed Damon's door, slipping into his room.

"You know, you could knock," Damon muttered, not looking up from his cell phone as he sat propped up against his headboard.

"Everyone else knocks; I don't knock," she said firmly, moving towards him.

He caught her hand as she made to open the draw to his nightstand and cocked his head at her. His eyebrow waggled suggestively as he snickered, "Why? Because you're special?"

She smiled at him innocently and replied sweetly, "No, I'm just the only one who isn't afraid of your temper."

"I would have a fit if anyone barged in here the way you do," he acknowledged.

"And yet you don't when I do it."

Damon heaved in exasperation, "Would it do me any good? No. You'd just argue right back at me about how I started showing up in your room unannounced first. You're the only one foolish enough to argue with me."

"I like to live on the edge," she smirked, echoing his own words.

"If arguing with me is all you need to get your thrill, then you've got it any time, any place," he murmured, sliding his hand around the back of her neck and pulling her in for a teasing kiss.

"You're in an amiable mood," Addie observed, opening the drawer

"Not particularly; I just rather you fight with me than do something reckless. _What_ do you want in there?"

She huffed, closing the drawer. It wasn't in there anymore. Her eyes narrowed at Damon as she demanded, "The birthday present from Klaus that you keep conveniently forgetting to give me, where is it?"

He shook his head. "I don't think so. See, the idea of him giving you jewelry kinda pisses me off and if you actually like it, well, then I'm going to be really angry and I might just say 'screw the plan' and try and rip out his heart on my own."

"You're jealous enough to kill Klaus and I can't be jealous enough to be annoyed with my sister. That sounds _totally_ fair."

"There's a difference. Elena wants Stefan. Klaus wants _you_ ," Damon shrugged simply.

Addie scoffed and rolled her eyes, "Elena wants both of you. Klaus wants to torment you and by getting jealous, you're letting him win."

"Yes, well, after tonight he won't be winning anything."

"Where is the gift?" she huffed impatiently.

He scowled, "Why do you want it? If you want jewelry, _I_ will get it for you."

"If you do that, we're going to have a serious fight," she warned. "It's not for me. It's for Rebekah."

"The name tag clearly has your name on it."

"For her to wear and have and remember him by and whatever. If _you_ were going to die tonight, I'd wear something to remember _you_ by," she sneered. That reminded her. Addie went over to his dresser and in the second drawer down pulled out one of the smaller shirts she borrowed for sleep and exchanged it with her own.

Rolling his eyes Damon over enunciated, "You're being dramatic."

"And you're being a reckless idiot," Addie shot back. "Do you _really_ want to argue about this or are you just going to tell me where the gift is?"

"Top drawer," he mumbled.

Sure enough Addie found the small rectangular box wrapped in blue paper in there. She removed it and quickly unwrapped the box.

"What is it?" Damon questioned jealously.

Addie shook her head; he could see she hadn't even opened it. The hinge lid snapped opened. A gorgeous bracelet with large, brilliant square diamonds. With a sigh she passed it to Damon, who she knew was watching her closely.

"A diamond tennis bracelet. Unoriginal and unimpressive," she informed him uninterested.

"Princess cut and at least 10 carats in platinum with excellent clarity. Easily a $35,000 bracelet," he growled bitterly.

"At least your $150,000 watch told the time," Addie muttered, snatching the box back. "What a waste of money. It's so gaudy. You can find a piece of costume jewelry that looks exactly the same for $5, I'm sure."

Damon squeezed his eyes shut. Sometimes he was really unsure whether Addie being oblivious to Klaus' intentions was for the better or worse. His eyes flashed open as he heard the noise.

"Rebekah's not wearing that," he muttered. His mouth pressed into a thin line as she looked at him in confusion. Thinking fast, he swiftly blocked the door. "Before you do anything stupid or go on the offensive, can we take a moment to be rational?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Your sister just daggered Rebekah."

Addie's eye went wide as she roared, "What?"

Damon angled himself in front of the doorknob as she tried to reach for it. "Ads. Addie. Addison!" he snapped as she struggled to get past him. Finally she glared up at him and he tried to reason with her, "You _can't_ undagger her. You want to know the first thing she's going to do? Kill your sister!"

"I'm ok with that."

"No, you're not," he reminded her forcefully as he grabbed her shoulders and pushed her an arm's length away from him.

"Pretty sure I am. I like Rebekah; I don't like my sister," she retorted snidely.

An internal war plagued Damon. He needed to go deal with Elena and Rebekah before Mikael came back from getting the stake. Addie, however, was livid and he didn't trust her not to be extremely short sighted and decide to undagger Rebekah if he left her alone or let her out of his sight. Putting her in the same room as Elena was _definitely_ not an option. If he thought Addie would just yell and scream, possibly, but with her temper already short with her sister it seemed more likely that she might simply punch Elena. What he needed to do was make Addie see the logical aspect, make her think it outweighed the emotional aspect, and then she might calm down. That could take several hours; he didn't have several hours.

What he _could_ do… but he really shouldn't do that. It was so wrong. And potentially , based on his research as a slightly overprotective protective boyfriend, he had basically been reassured that at the right levels, it was harmless. But he'd be such a hypocrite. How many times had he gotten on to her about drinking and her medication. God, he'd done a lot of terrible things but he'd never drugged a woman in his life. Was he seriously considering drugging his girlfriend?

If he didn't, what were his options? Try and keep Addie from pulling out the dagger. There was a 50/50 chance she might try that. Let her and Elena fight it, physically or with words. That would definitely happen. He glanced at his clock. If it was with words, it was highly unlikely they would be done before Mikael got back and then he would find out that Elena had daggered his daughter and, somehow, Damon didn't think that would go over too well. Addie had only ever gotten into one physical fight with Elena and it had been after their parents had died. He was fairly certain he'd seen her more pissed at her sister without Addie hitting her. Chancing a physical fight might be hoping for too much. Making Addie calm down seemed like a ridiculous idea as she grew redder and redder.

Dear God. Grabbing her wrist, Damon dragged her over to his dresser. He opened his top drawer and pulled out a tumbler and a crystal decanter of scotch. Quicker than she had seen, though, before he had taken out the glass he had popped open a bottle of her anti-anxiety medication and crushed one tablet into the cup. He poured two fingers and held it out to her.

"I don't want a drink. I want to go-" Undagger Rebekah? Beat Elena senseless? Throw a tantrum about the whole damn situation with Klaus and Mikael? Addie wasn't exactly sure what she wanted to do. She just knew standing there, doing nothing was making her more pissed off.

"Drink," insisted Damon.

"I'm not you!" Addie snapped. "Alcohol is not going to magically solve my problems."

"Drink and if in ten minutes you still think whatever you want to do is a good idea I will help you," he bargained.

Scowling at him, Addie snatched the glass and downed the contents in one gulp. She winced and hissed at the burn. Coughing slight, she grumbled, "Happy?"

"We'll see in ten minutes."

Sighing dramatically, she flung herself onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling. More gracefully Damon laid down next to her. His fingers intertwined with hers as her heavy breathing became less audible.

"I still think your ceiling is perfect for glow-in-the-dark stars," Addie grumbled, trying not to focus on her sister or Rebekah or the looming night ahead. His ceiling was smooth while hers was popcorn-ed, making installation a pain in the butt.

"And while I still like the sets that have the planets and think setting up a solar system on the ceiling and a space theme would be a really cool idea for a child's room, I'm still not putting them up. How many times do I have to tell you that is not what they mean when they say 'doing it under the stars?'" Damon snickered as he recalled the first conversation he'd had with Addie about sex. They weren't even thinking of having it with each other at the time.

She propped herself up on one elbow to peer down at Damon as she demanded, "What's your excuse for not putting them up _now_?"

"It's like I said, 'it's not the smoothest move when you bring a girl home,'" he shrugged innocently.

"I know what you said. However, this girl," she emphasized, pointing to herself with both her thumbs, "thinks it could be fun to try. What other girls are you bringing home?"

"No-wh-ho," Damon stammered, trying to figure out how a joke came around to him cheating on her. "I'm confused as to when we even started having sex," he said defensively. "I certainly don't remember being there for that."

Addie gave him a highly suggestive smile. "In reality we may be limited by your physical boundaries; unfortunately, you can't control my dreams."

"Addison Gilbert," he gasped scandalized. Yeah, the drink and the medication had definitely kicked in. She would have _never_ told him that. Brushing his thumb softly over her cheek he asked, "You ok here while I go take care of some stuff?"

Her eyes narrowed skeptically at him. So, she hadn't forgotten about the entire night. "How long until you come back?"

Damon frowned. He didn't know how long he would take with Elena. And he would of course have to deal with Katherine or Mikael if they showed up. He did his best and promised, "I'll be back before I go anywhere."

This seemed to be good enough for Addie because she simply nodded and opened a chess game on her phone.

* * *

Addie cursed to herself as the computer bested her again in another game of chess. She had already switched from 'Intermediate' to 'Beginner.' For some reason she just wasn't seeing and anticipating the moves; it was like her brain was in a fog.

Her grimace increased as her phone began to ring. She stuck her tongue out at the caller ID before curtly answering, "What?"

"Where are you? You're missing the celebration," Klaus cried over pounding music.

"I don't do school dances. I thought you killed my best friend at the last one, remember?" she cut back harshly.

Klaus paused for a moment, interpreting and remembering. "Homecoming was cancelled, dear. Gym was flooded. Tragic. Lucky for everyone Tyler managed to through together the most fantastic wake for my father."

A sense of dread settled in Addie's stomach. She had no idea what Damon was planning but she doubted he had planned on this. "Lucky for everyone who wanted to go to homecoming and likes big parties. I like my peace and quiet and don't care either way. Congratulations on the dagger death, though."

"Thank you. I can't help but notice that in addition to you, my sister isn't here. I can't believe she would miss this."

Addie's fist clenched as a sense of rage coursed through her. _Elena._ Truthfully, she answered, "I don't know where Rebekah is. I was with her getting ready for the dance. She was really excited about it. Are you sure you haven't just missed her? It sounds like a lot of people."

"It's possible," he muttered.

"You're seriously throwing a wake before you've gotten to dance on your father's grave? That's the first thing I'd do if I'd finally get to stop running after a thousand years," she mused, wondering exactly when they planned to attack Klaus.

Addie could almost hear his wicked grin. "Oh, I've sent Stefan to fetch him so I can do just that."

"Addison," Klaus said seriously. He must have moved somewhere quiet because she could no longer hear any background noise. "I trust that you're not stupid. I trust that your friends are extremely stupid. Whatever it is they're think of trying, they won't succeed. And, dear, I can assure you that you don't want them to succeed. There happen to be a few dozen of my hybrid friends here tonight and even in death they will follow my orders. If I die, Damon dies too. I'm giving you the chance to stop them, Addison."

" _Niklaus_ , I have no idea what they're planning or if they're even planning anything at all," she sighed in exasperation, a trembling hand running through her hair.

"If they're planning nothing then you have no concerns. If they are… consider this mutually assured destruction."

"You're operating on the premise that people actually _like_ Damon," Addie muttered.

Klaus tsked and sounded almost apologetic as he replied, "Not people, you. My destruction will bring about the destruction of the thing that brings you the most happiness, Damon. If I'm going down, so are you. Hopefully that's enough of incentive to stop your friends." And with that he hung up.

She _might_ be able to talk Damon out of whatever he was planning but that would mean he'd be crossing Mikael, which would wind up with him still being dead. The room was spinning and her head was pounding. She needed to discuss this with Damon; maybe he'd have a solution.

An acute wave of nausea hit her as she stood up accompanied by a bang of dizziness. She grabbed at the poster of the bed until the world was a little more stable. Still, she had to hold on the rail as she made her way down the stairs. She didn't see him in the living room but heard the sounds of a fire coming from the library.

"Whoa," Damon muttered, dropping the glass and blood bag onto the liquor cabinet and rushing to Addie's side as she staggered into the room.

"I will get sick all over your precious rug if you screw up my orientation and view by picking me up," she hissed, feeling his arm at the back of her knees.

Point effectively made, still that didn't mean he couldn't help steer her to the couch. "You're pretty much the only person who can get away with getting sick on anything. Your health ranks above any possessions. That being said, are you going to be sick?" he asked, his stomach twisting guilty. She felt like shit because of him.

"No. Damon-" Her hand clenched reflexively around his as Mikael walked into the room. Wonderful.

"Did my daughter go to the dance?"

"Yep," Damon replied, popping the 'puh' sound. "You missed the photo op. Did you get the stake?"

Addie's eyes narrowed at him. No, she hadn't. Where was Rebekah?

Mikael nodded in confirmation, "I did."

"I'm not gonna take your word for it," scoffed Damon. "No offense to your honor and all."

"None take," replied the vampire hunter as he withdrew an ornately carved wooden stake from inside his jacket.

"Fancy. May I?"

Mikael smirked as he tucked the piece of wood away, "It's the only weapon on this earth that can kill an original. So I think I'll hold on to it. No offense."

It could kill an original, any original. If Klaus died, Damon died. If Klaus didn't die, Damon died. Either Klaus's hybrids were going to kill Damon or Mikael was going to kill Damon. Klaus could be reasoned with, the hybrids could be controlled. Mikael was probably going to kill Damon no matter what. Addie rubbed at her aching head. The answer was right in front of her. She knew she was staring at it she just couldn't _see_ it.

"I'd offer you a drink but Katherine tells me you're more of a "vampire on the rocks" kind of guy."

"Technically you could still offer," Addie snickered.

Leave it to Addie to still be a smart ass when she fucking drugged. Damon pressed the back of his hand to her forehead, as if checking for fever, and grumbled, "You're sick and delusional."

"Wanna know why vampires?" she whispered conspiratorially.

"Shut up, Addie," he muttered. She, well, _he_ , since he drugged her, was going to get them killed.

"It's the bloodlust. Vampires were never supposed to be insatiable predators. Right?" Addie said, looking to Mikael for validation.

Damon had never been so relieved to see his brother enter a room, even if he looked annoyed. "Change of plans. Klaus is back. He is at the Lockwood's and he wants your body delivered to his doorstep."

"I'm afraid he's in for a colossal disappointment," Mikael replied with a smile.

"Well, he's certainly not gonna come here. I hope your plan didn't depend on that."

Damon shook his head, "Didn't depend on that."

"But you do have a plan, right?" Stefan asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

He nodded at his brother. "Oh, yeah. We have a plan. Just doesn't involve you."

Addie gasped as Mikael flashed forward, tearing into Stefan's throat and feeding. _Mikael!_ They had to kill Mikael! Then Damon wouldn't die for crossing Mikael and he wouldn't die because Klaus died. Eventually Stefan fell unconscious and Mikael dropped him to the floor. Addie couldn't help but giggle.

"It's a about time someone did that after all he's done," she shrugged defensively.

"I'm gonna take you back upstairs," Damon decided. When he moved to collect her, Addie scurried to the other end of the couch.

If Damon took her upstairs she would just have to come back down again. She couldn't talk to Damon about killing Mikael with him standing right there. It was all up to convincing Stefan, who had no humanity and didn't care about his brother. Maybe she should go directly to Klaus.

"I wanna stay down here," she protested.

Glancing between his brother and his drugged girlfriend Damon groaned quietly. He had a feeling she was going to do whatever she wanted, no matter what countermeasures he took. "Fine," he sighed reluctantly. "Just stay here, ok?" Addie nodded and he kissed her on the forehead goodbye.

* * *

Addie blinked several times and the road flattened out again. Stefan had been a waste of time; she'd spent as much time as she dared trying to wake him up but to no avail. There was no way of telling how soon after reaching the Lockwood's Mikael and Damon would enact their plan. Her thirteen calls to Klaus had gone unanswered. Despite feeling like hell, she'd been left with only one option.

Any other time she welcomed the rough ride of her 4x4 Jeep but now it just made her feel like she was going to be sick. She gave a shuddering groan as she parked behind someone in the mansion's circular driveway. She wouldn't be long. Shaking, Addie got out of the car and unsteadily headed for the house. The world began to spin with the thumping bass from the band. The place was packed, which should make it easier to avoid anyone she knew but would make it nearly impossible to find a single person.

Her lips pinched as she came upon a fallen body and a heart discarded next to it outside the front door. Damon found a hybrid and had gone inside. So, she'd stay outside and find her own hybrid. Addie walked along the side of the house, occasionally using it for support. Every face she passed she studied it for familiarity. If she had never seen it before, she tried to judge if the person looked significantly older than a high school student, signalling they didn't belong. Ha! Take that whatever fucked up vertigo, migraine crap. Even sick she could still be logical.

That didn't mean her plan would actually work, she had to admit, once she had made her way around to the back of the house. Addie was about to try calling Klaus again when she saw him playing _beerpong_. She couldn't figure out which she found more bizarre - him playing beerpong while people plotted against his life or the fact that Klaus Mikaelson was playing beerpong. A sense of relief filled her as she made her way over to him, slightly stumbling over her feet.

"Addison, glad you could make it!" Klaus beamed, throwing an arm around her shoulders and pulling her into his side. He looked down at her more critically as she almost fell into him. Quickly righting her he asked, "What's wrong?"

"We need to talk," she mumbled, trying to focus her eyes on him. "In private."

He nodded and passed the ping pong ball he was holding to someone else. Addie tugged gently at the side of his shirt as he tried to steer her into the house. She mumbled something about the side and so they went there instead.

"You're ill," Klaus noted as she rested against the building. With two fingers he lifted her chin. She groaned and swatted when he shined his cell phone in her eyes. "No, you're drugged!" he proclaimed. "What the hell?"

"I'm not drugged," she spat. "I've got, like, the migraine from hell or something."

"What did you drink? Who gave it to you?" he demanded angrily.

Addie groaned and smacked the wall behind her. The sting that radiated through her hand made her whimper. "Nothing! No one," she mumbled. "God, Klaus, I can't," she inhaled sharply as he tilted from left to right.

"Somehow you got drugged!"

"Shut up!" Addie snapped. "I'm trying to focus and you repeating that isn't helping."

Klaus raised his eyebrows in mild surprise. Slowly he nodded, "Ok. What do we need to talk about."

Tears began to slowly fall down her cheeks as she whispered, "Mikael and Damon, I can't stop them. I don't know their plan."

"Well that's unfortunate for you."

"They are _confident_ ," she hissed. "Mikael fed on Stefan until he passed out to make sure he stays out of the way."

"Well that's not very helpful." The anger was increasing in his voice. "Do you have any useful information?"

Addie squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to think but that only made that only made her dizzier. "Elena, I think they're going to use her as bait or something. I don't- I don't know. They brought Katherine in to pretend to be Elena."

His cool fingers made her shiver as he brushed away her tears. "What else?"

"You have to kill Mikael. With his stake. You have to kill him."

"And why should I do that?"

"You want him dead," she muttered.

Klaus frowned and scooted closer to her, making her back up until she was standing up better. She'd practically been about to slide down to the floor. He was going to figure out who drugged her and slowly kill them.

"Why do you want him dead, Addison?"

She sighed, leaning her head back against the house. Why did Klaus have to hear that she needed his help? "Mikael and Damon kill you, Damon dies. I convinces Damon to stop, Mikael kills him. Mikael's death is the only way to keep Damon safe."

"That option where you convince Damon to stop is intriguing," he smirked.

"Klaus," Addie pleaded, rubbing at her face.

While he didn't _like_ Damon, he did an adequate job of keeping Addie safe. Though, if he was so distracted that he'd let some idiot roofie her they needed to have a serious conversation. Klaus liked to protect his investments. "I'll tell you what, I'll do what I can to save Damon if you tell me how you got all fucked up."

"I just got sick. I was playing some chess on my phone and I must have been staring at the screen too long. When I stood up I just felt sick and dizzy," she whined.

"What did you eat or drink while-"

"Oh, my god. I'm not some idiot freshman. This happened while I was _at home_ ," stressed Addie, growing impatient.

His lips pressed into a thin white line as he demanded, "How did you get here?"

"You wouldn't answer your phone," she said defensively.

"You dr-"

"Don't yell," Addie barked, covering her hands over her ears. The sound of her own voice was making her head spin.

Klaus pulled out his ringing phone and smirked at the caller ID. Stefan, just the person he needed to screw up whatever Damon had planned.

"Just stay here until everything goes down. Wait for Damon or someone to take you home," he instructed, waiting for her nod before he left.

Like hell she would stay and let Damon catch her here. She didn't have a death wish.

* * *

Addie groaned and pulled the covers over her head as Damon's bedroom door slammed. She'd already heard the steady stream of colorful words when he got home. All that really mattered was that he was safe. The details were something she could be interested in on a night she hadn't spent half an hour heaving up bile that burned at her throat. Her shower had been like ice water since anything warmer made the tiles on the wall start to dance.

"You're not going to believe who fucked us," he growled. Addie could hear the opening and closing of his dresser drawer and the sound of liquid pouring.

Huh. Considering he wasn't yelling at her, it was probably someone besides her. Two traitors in one night? If she could care, that would be quite interesting.

"We thought of _everything_ , Ads. Klaus having hybrids. Mikael turning on us. I brought in Katherine so Elena wasn't in danger. I made sure to keep you far away from it. Anything that could have gone wrong we were prepared for!" he suddenly snapped.

She wondered how long he would go on if she just ignored him.

"What do you mean you made sure to keep me far away from it?" mumbled Addie, wondering if he would even hear her.

His pacing stopped; he'd heard her. His voice was tight with restraint as he replied, "I told you fro the start I didn't want you involved."

Addie couldn't help the nagging feeling in her stomach and Klaus' words playing over and over in her head. "Yeah. How did you _make sure_ I wasn't?"

"Are you implying something?" he asked abruptly.

"I don't know. Is there something to imply?"

"What would there be to imply?!"

Addie scoffed and tried to roll her eyes but stopped when the whole room started to roll. "You're the one who asked if I was implying something."

Damon's eyes narrowed at her as he challenged, "Why don't you just ask me what you want to know?"

"That drink earlier, did… did you…," she trailed off and laid back down. She couldn't believe she was actually going to accuse Damon of drugging her. He would _never_ do that. Damon might try and pull a lot of shit but he was above that.

He was so glad she didn't finish that question. If he answered with the truth, things would turn nasty. If he lied, well, he was already feeling so guilty and had done a horrible thing.

"Do you feel bad or something?" he winced. She gave him a look that told him she felt worse than miserable. A hand raked through his hair and he forced himself to take a steadying breath. "I'm sorry," Damon muttered, sitting next to her on the bed. "I should be asking you how you've been. You weren't doing so hot when I left."

"It's all been downhill. The best part was the cold shower after the unsuccessful vomiting." She grabbed his hand and placed it over her forehead and sighed, "That at least makes it stop feeling like I'm in a waterbed on a cruise ship in the middle of a hurricane."

There was an actual pang of discomfort in his chest. "Are you at least feeling a little better?"

Addie gave him a tiny smile, a small shrug and confessed, "A little now that you're back. When you left I was about 95% certain you were going to die tonight. Knowing I'll get to wake up to you tomorrow is a pretty good feeling." As she cupped his cheek her thumb swept over his slight frown. "What went wrong? Why are you so…"

"Pissed off?" he suggested.

She stared at him in realization as she sat up. Hesitantly, Addie hugged him. He stiffened briefly before relaxing, running a hand through her hair.

"You're hurt," she murmured, brushing at their at the nape of his neck.

"I shouldn't be," he muttered bitterly.

"But you are and that's what's important. What happened?"

"I trusted that there was a shred of humanity in my brother. I was _so_ sure he wanted Klaus dead after everything. Instead, he's happy getting his freedom from Klaus by _saving_ him. If I expected him to do that I would locked him in the fucking basement. I had him, Addie! I _had_ Klaus! This could have all been over!" he snarled.

Addie reached for Damon's hand that had tugged harder and harder at her hair as he got worked up and loosened his grip and wiggled her fingers between his. She'd prefer her hand be crushed than he accidentally rip out her hair.

She bit at her lip guiltily. Stefan had been her first option in saving Damon. She had planned on trying to convince him to care about Damon enough to save his life. Apparently Klaus had a similar idea except he promised Stefan his freedom in exchange for saving his life, which Addie had requested when she asked for Klaus' help in saving Damon's.

"There's something you haven't said," she said gently as she squeezed his hand encouragingly.

Damon grimaced, "How do you know these things? How do you know when I'm…."

"You get all tense and surly. And when you're hurting your eyes give you away."

"No, they don't," he glowered defensively.

Addie gave him an apologetic smile as her hand rested on his cheek. She tried to comfort him by explaining, "When you look at me, it's your open expression that let's me know how you feel. You look at the rest of the world with this cold, hard stare. The only time you ever put that guard up around me is when you don't want to seem weak. And for the record, having emotions doesn't make you weak. What are you so scared or ashamed to admit?"

He sighed and rested his forehead against hers. There was no point in trying to hide something when she caught him. Reluctantly Damon mumbled, "I'm never getting Stefan back. The brother I knew is gone."

"Damon," Addie uttered urgently, "if you know that, then you know you have to let him go. You have to really let him go this time."

"He's still my brother."

"And he sold you out. He sold Elena out. You _are not_ his brother in his book. He's not going to care if he kills you. But I'm going to care. I'm going to care a lot," she whispered, looking deep into to his eyes, hoping to reach him in his pit of despair.

Damon's lips pursed. He didn't care what Stefan did to him. It was who Stefan might use against him if he did try to reach out to him. With no humanity Stefan would have no qualms about hurting Addie. It was only for her that he would let his brother go without a fight.

"For you, I'll let him go," he murmured, leaning in to kiss her.

Addie pulled away quickly, a hand on Damon's ribbed shirt keeping him away. "Don't do this because of me. You're not going to be happy if you let go of your brother for some girl," she insisted.

"You're not just _some girl_ , Addie," retorted Damon. He carried on before she could argue with him about that, "Why, what reason is good enough cause to let Stefan go, in your book?"

"Your life and your happiness. Letting him go has to be about not letting him ruin those things."

He bounced up off the bed like a spring and laughed humorlessly as he started to pace. Did she not get that she was his life? As he turned around to walk back across the room he eyed her warily, noticing she had gotten out of bed and was moving closer to him. Feeling frustrated he raised his hands helplessly and exclaimed, "Do I seem happy _now_? Because I am most definitely not."

"That's because you refuse to accept that when Klaus compelled Stefan to shut off his humanity, it _all_ shut off. He screwed you over because the entire point of the plan for him was to gain his freedom from Klaus. Saving Klaus _guaranteed_ that. As much as you may have had Klaus and been about to kill him, that wasn't a _guarantee_. That wasn't something Stefan could control. He had the power to stop you and make sure he earned his freedom. Stefan wanted his freedom more than he wanted to kill Klaus. Trusting in you and Mikael was just a means to an end. Then he found his own method and, well, the fewer people involved in a plan the less likely it is to get screwed up," Addie reasoned through a lot of generalizations and assumptions. It didn't matter if it was true; she just had to convince Damon to believe it. As long as she sounded confident, talking nonsense usually worked.

Damon's fingers curled around the sides of his old grey shirt she wore and tugged Addie flush against him. Leaning into her ear he softly growled, "Do you have any idea how aggravating you are when you're all rational and making sense and I just want to have a fit?"

Addie squeezed reassuringly at the flexed muscles in his uppers and tried to step away but his hold on her was too tight. "If you let me go, you can throw a giant temper tantrum if you want."

"I really can't," he grumbled, his hands slipping to the small of her back. "I'm supposed to be the mature, stable one in this and I'm already seriously questioning which one of us has lived more lifetimes."

"So, you're annoyed because I'm being rational? Do you realize how mercurial you are? I don't exactly think either one of us can claim the title of stable."

"I'm annoyed because you're right, which means I'm… less right and I don't like that. I shouldn't need my teenage girlfriend to reason out tonight's event for me," he scowled.

The stubble along his jaw prickled at her fingers as she angled his head to look her in the eye. "You're angry and in pain," she told him understandingly. "Eventually all that would calm down and you would work out the reasoning. I'm not as emotionally invested as you and that's why I can see it all now and I want you to accept the truth for what it is because it upsets me to see you so hurt and angry."

A grimace crossed Damon's features as he closed his eyes and he whined, "Can't I just be upset and pissed off for awhile?"

"Can you do that without feeling like you were betrayed?"

"Stefan has no conscious and was just acting in his best interest," he eventually spat out through gritted teeth.

"As long as you keep repeating that to yourself, you can be as angry and as pissed off about failing to kill Klaus as you want," Addie approved. The whole story worked out for her; Damon would never know she had betrayed him to Klaus.

Damon shook his head in dismay. He knew if he tried to reason with Addie about Elena having daggered Rebekah she wouldn't listen to a word he said. For all her talk of rationality and logic, the concepts seemed to fly out the door when her sister became involved. At some point he was going to have make her understand that she couldn't go and undagger Rebekah, though, he had a feeling she already knew on some level.

He frowned as he felt her slightly swaying in his arms. "Addie, how are you feeling?" he asked seriously, holding her chin and not allowing her to divert her eyes.

"I feel tired," she admitted quietly as she slumped into him, her arms twisting around his neck, "really, really, really tired. I'm still a little dizzy but, mostly, I just want to sleep. My head feels like it went three rounds with Mike Tyson."

Damon's insides clenched uncomfortably; it was all his fault. Everyone online had said they hadn't had any problems taking _one_ dose of her anxiety medication and mixing it with _one_ drink. However, none of them were probably five feet and 110 pounds of mostly muscle soaking wet. Addie was tiny. He should have given her half a dose. No! Fuck! Why did he try to keep rationalizing his actions as ok? He shouldn't have drugged his girlfriend to begin with. She _trusted_ him and this was so much of a step in the other direction. The reaction she'd had when he compelled her to improve her life was nothing to the reaction she was going to have when he admitted to doing this to make his life easier.

What the hell was he thinking? He couldn't tell her. Addie might literally try and kill him for it; and she was getting good enough at fighting that that was an actual possibility. It wasn't right that she could read and soothe him so easily and yet when it came to dealing with her, he was so lost that he had to drug her to keep her from doing anything reckless or intervening in critical plans. She was so hard to predict when her personality was split so many ways it drove him ten types of crazy.

"Damon," Addie whined, finally getting his attention. At his confused look she exhaustedly repeated, "I wanna go to bed."

Not certain he wanted her walking if she was still dizzy and tired, his hands dropped to the backs of her thighs, encouraging her to wrap her legs around his waist. He was surprised when she didn't protest; she either really didn't feel good or really was tired. Damon carried Addie as he moved to turn off the light before gently setting her down on her side of the bed. She whimpered and clutched tighter at him as he made to pull away.

"Love, I have to take a shower," he insisted, unwrapping her arms from around his neck. His lips softly brushed against her pout. A hand ran through his hair as he thought, "Maybe you should wait until the morning to take the rest of your medication if you've already been sick and are feeling dizzy. Eight hours isn't going to change anything in the grand scheme of things but I don't want you getting ill again."

Addie nodded in agreement, curling back under the soft black cover. "Promise to come to bed after your shower?" She didn't want him sulking around the house and brooding.

Damon said he did and twenty minutes later she felt his arm around her waist as he gently tugged her back against his chest. It was a challenge not to react and to pretend as if she was asleep. Part of why she felt so bad was because she had been the reason Damon's plan had messed up but she was lying to him about it. She was scared about how he would react if she found out she had worked with Klaus, even if it was to save his life. Addie knew he placed her own safety over his and for her sake, he would have rather seen Klaus dead even if it meant he died. The _jealousy_ , oh, that was something she didn't even want to think about.

The scent of cucumber melon shampoo tickled his nose as Damon buried his face in her hair and murmured an almost silent apology. He was in real physical discomfort for the pain he had put her through. He had no idea what he would have done if something would have happened to her. An internal war over whether or not to tell her kept him up most of the night. A dreadful feeling told him that if he didn't come clean, they were headed down a dark path.

* * *

 **A/N: Who thinks guilt, or common sense, is going to get the better of them and the truth will be told versus who thinks they're going to screw each other over some more? It's pretty obvious since they love each other, right? (If it is, somebody tell me because I don't know.)**

 **Thank you _sooooooo_ much to everyone who reviewed on the last chapter! You've really helped me focus where this story is going. **


	11. Chapter 10

Addie tensed, her arm reaching further up the bed while her leg went in the opposite direction and her hips twisted in a morning stretched. In the night she had somehow ended up at Damon's side with one arm under her head as a pillow, his arm sandwiched in between and a leg thrown so higher over his waist it laid against the bottom of his stomach and top of his boxers. She relaxed with a soft sigh as his cool fingers stroked up and down the back of her thigh. When she went to roll away he gave a grunt of protest, the hand resting at the small of her back pressed her harder into him and his grip on her leg tightened. Reluctantly, Addie complied. It was a very good thing for both of them that he was pretty cool to the touch without any caffeine in his system in the mornings. He liked to snuggled but there was no way she could tolerate it if he was warm. She already got so hot at night that she almost always woke up with the blankets around her waist.

"It's seven. It's the weekend. Go back to sleep," he muttered.

Addie had been watching his face to know that he hadn't even bothered opening his eyes. She glanced at the clock. Technically it was two minutes until seven. How did he know?

Tucking his hand under her shirt Damon sighed dramatically, "Stop thinking; I can _feel_ you thinking. We've finally established a routine. You go to bed at eleven and wake at seven, Monday through Friday. It's Saturday; go back to sleep."

"That messes with routine," she pointed out obviously. Still, if they had finally got her sleep on a regular schedule, they shouldn't deviate from it.

"Addison, I couldn't give less of a fuck about routine right now. Klaus is supposed to be dead. Stefan's completely gone. Last night just _sucked_. Getting up at seven is going to make today too damn long. I just want to sleep with the only good thing in my life for as long as possible," vented Damon, his voice husky with sleep but still gentle. "Go back to sleep."

"Ok," Addie whispered, relaxing back into his hold. Only it wasn't that easy to fall back asleep. Around eight she fell asleep for forty-five minutes, maybe an hour. She tried to slowly move away from him again around half past nine but the fingers that softly scratched at her back until she was putty in his hands told her she'd been caught. By eleven, she wasn't just bored, she was feeling agitated from having laid in the same position for so long that her foot started to softly shake the bed.

"Ok, you win!" Damon grumbled after a minute of this. "I'm awake, you insolent, impatient, pint-sized brat."

Propping herself up on her elbow Addie made a big show of looking to see how much room was between Damon and the edge of the bed. A lot. They somehow always managed to wind up in the middle. Cheekily she criticized, "Snarky, snarky, snarky. You have _obviously_ woken up on the wrong side of the bed."

He made quick work of pinning her onto her back, his hands buried in the sides of her hair, keeping her head in place, his weight pressing her into the mattress. He could see she was about to tell him off for moving so quickly but he caught her pouting bottom lip between his teeth fiercely, turning her protest into a soft moan. After some tugging and tasting and Damon was sure he'd made his point, he pulled away.

His piercing eyes were darker than usual as Addie stared up into them. His words were clipped and biting as he decreed, "I've more than earned the right to be snarky after last night. And cranky. And bitchy. And surly. And every other damn unpleasant adjective you can think of to describe a foul mood. Understand?"

"And you just expect me to sit here and deal with your temper tantrum," she scoffed, raising her eyebrows up at him incredulously.

"Honestly? No," he muttered, shaking his head in acceptance. "You're too damn stubborn and indignant and proud and sensitive. You'll take everything far too personally and you'll pick pointless fights like you're trying to do right now."

She snorted and scowled, "I'm not picking a fight; I'm just pointing out that you're being a bit out of line with me."

Damon's eyes narrowed into little slits as he fought not to give into her bait. "My point," he said slowly, he voice carefully constrained and neutral, "is that I'm in a bad mood, I don't expect you to put up with it, and, most importantly, I don't want to fight with you, Addie, especially because it will undoubtedly be over something even stupider than usual and it will be an actual fight, not us just bitching at each other."

"You want me to leave," she concluded.

"It's not what I _want_ but it's probably what's _best_ ," he mumbled, giving her a chaste apologetic kiss.

"Well," damn he hated that coquettish smile and the way her eyes danced wickedly, "if you don't _want_ me to go; I'm not leaving."

"Today is not a day to be difficult, Addison."

She frowned disapprovingly at him, the playfulness suddenly gone. "Damon, if you actually expect this relationship to work, we are going to have to learn to work _with_ each other and our most formidable temperaments."

"I think avoiding each other when extreme moods strike would be more effective," he muttered, recalling the last occasion he'd been so angry that they'd broken up and both end up miserable.

"It's not exactly like this is the first time I've seen you pissed off."

"And do you recall the number of times you've seen me so angry it's left you in tears?" he challenged, an unspoken warning in his voice.

"Once," Addie said victoriously. She smirked at the confusion on his face. "Clearly you think it's more but I cry because _I_ am the one that's angry. Seriously, the only time you've been so mad that you've made me cry is Chicago. Seeing as I plan on staying with you and not running off with Klaus, I don't foresee that happening. Also, this is completely different than other times you've been upset. Your anger is directed at the world; it's not channelled at me. Suck it up, Chuck. You're stuck with me."

Damon rolled off her and the bed, running his fingers through his hair as he wearily decided, "I need breakfast before further dealing with you."

"Thank god!" Addie exclaimed, standing up and finally getting to stretch properly.

Glad to be out of bed, she quickly made her way to the bathroom and started the process she'd been dying to do since she had first woken up at seven. With a scowl at Damon's mint flavored toothpaste, she reached for her cinnamon toothpaste, careful not to touch his tube. It wasn't a phobia or anything, she just had a touch of obsessive tendencies when it came to oral hygiene. Wet the toothbrush, cover end to end with paste, wet brush again, brush tongue, divide mouth into six sections, divide each section into three areas, brush each area in a circular motion on a slight angle from left to right eleven times. She was working on the first area of her third section when Damon came into the bathroom, a partially filled tumbler in his hand.

"'At's 'ot 'eark'ast," she chastised around a mouth filled with foamy red toothpaste.

Damon raised a cool, challenging eyebrow at her as he meet her ocean blue eyes in the mirror. "It is today."

A crease formed between her eyebrows as she tried to focus on counting and him at the same time. Finishing the third section she spat out just enough toothpaste to sigh, "Damon, you need blood."

"The less blood in my system the less time it takes for me to get drunk. It's simple biology," he shrugged innocently. And enough of the truth.

She paused her ritual to sneer at him, "Your body won't produce serotonin and dopamine, which play a role in your mood, in a normal manner if you aren't eating properly."

"Dopamine and serotonin levels start screwing up when you switch to blood bags," he informed, taking a sip of the scotch. "It's not considered proper feeding."

As she clamped her teeth on her toothbrush, Addie mumbled something that he couldn't make out. Damon knew about her little toothbrushing obsession and was confused as to why she had stopped as he watched her gather all of her hair and drape it over the shoulder furthest away from him. Her intentions became very clear as she tilted her exposed neck to him.

"Ads, I didn't me-"

"I _know_ you would never ask or suggest it. You're not _that_ much of a dick," she scowled, spitting the rest of her toothpaste into the sink. "But I'm also not an idiot. I know why you are constantly obsessing over if I eat. You can claim it's for my health but I think we both know it's mostly because I make Godzilla look like a friendly gecko if my blood sugar drops too low. That's what not eating properly does to _me_ and I don't already have fucked up serotonin and dopamine levels from blood bags."

"No, your chemical imbalance is just because you're not all there."

Addie pursed her lips in thought and shrugged. "Or am I not all there because of the chemical imbalance? Which came first: the chicken or the egg? My point still stands; I'm not dealing with any bullshit, crap reasons for you being a petulant, mercurial dick when there is obviously something I can do to help."

Damon set his glass on the counter and slowly stalked behind Addie. His long fingers curled around her shoulder while his arm snaked around her waist. Gently he pressed his weight against her, lightly pinning her to the sink. His eyes sparkled with a darkness as he brushed the scruff on his cheek and chin along her throat. In the mirror he could see her eyes flutter shut and the corners of his own lips tug up in a smirk.

"You know, oxytocin, generated from physical contact, is another happiness hormone. I think we should be more focused on that," he murmured, his voice husky and concupiscent.

"Feed, Damon," she instructed, her grip on the toothbrush tightening until her knuckles turned white. "One thing at a time."

His lips ran down her jaw, past her ear, and down her neck, nipping softly. Addie made a very good argument; there was a reason his solution to all his anger could be found in a brainless beauty and alcohol. Fresh blood, sex and booze. A the taste and touch of bliss accompanied by the emotional numbing effects of drink. Then Addie came along. He felt his fangs descend, gently pressing into her skin. Decisively he pulled away, breaking off all contact with her.

"Letting a pissed off vampire feed off of you _is_ acting like an idiot. I'm far more likely to hurt you," Damon snarled, picking back up his scotch. "I _know_ you're not an idiot so don't act like one. Finish brushing your teeth."

Frustrated and annoyed, Addie rinsed off her too brush and used water to swish the last of the toothpaste out of her mouth. The process was never finished; she had lost count and would have to start over. She turned on her heel to face him eye to eye rather than through the mirror. She chose her words very deliberately, cautious of the minefield that was Damon at the moment. It wasn't her intention to trigger a landmine. "First of all, _I_ am the first person who judges whether or not I think you are in a frame of mind where I can trust you with something as sensitive and personal as drinking my blood. Secondly, since you have a habit of almost _always_ saying you're going to hurt me, I'm going to say we go by my judgment because if we look at the record, I've always been right and you've never hurt me. Thirdly, you were extremely pissed off and feeding off of several girls after it turned out Katherine wasn't in the tomb but none of _them_ ended up dead. Frankly, it's a little insulting if you can control yourself with people who mean nothing to you but you can't stay in control when it's with someone you claim to love. Fourth, you know I'm right and you're just being a difficult bastard. Is _this_ really what you want to fight about? I don't want to argue this with you but I will, Damon. Though, I think we would both rather spend the day doing other things."

"You know, considering the mood I'm in, you could at least let me be right," he pouted as he set his drink back down.

"I'm not going to _let you_ win anything, you wanna be right then be right," Addie reprimanded as she sat on the counter.

His lips pressed into a thin line; he should have expected an answer like that. He couldn't just flat out let her best him like that. There had to be some sort of power or control he could exert. His lips twitch upwards before he bit sharply into his wrist, bright red blood bubbling to the surface. Damon conceded, "If we're doing this, we're doing it my way and taking precautionary measures."

* * *

Relief washed over Addie as she snapped her calculus book shut. Three hours was way too long for a homework assignment. She wasn't even doing extra work like she was in European history or English or Latin. Just the assigned problems took her so long. It would definitely be worth not having to take a math class her senior year, though.

The clock on the stove told her it was just past five. The day passed by fast when you spent nearly half of it in bed. By the time they had actually made it downstairs, it was noon. A little bit of blood had done wonders for Damon's mood; he'd gone from the Grinch to PMSing and having a mood swing every few minutes. It gave her whiplash but Addie chose to see it as improvement. It hadn't made him any less _Damon_ , though. She couldn't resist giving in to his little, well, she wasn't exactly sure what the hell he had meant by putting chocolate protein powder in her chocolate milk. Him screwing with her food was an argument they'd fought at least a hundred times and she couldn't help but feel disrespected every time he chose to ignore her. After that fiasco and cleaning the kitchen from brunch in a frosty silence it had been almost two. Addie decided to continue about her day as if Damon hadn't tried to warn her off about his mood and pulled out her homework. He had gone… somewhere that wasn't the kitchen.

She had entertained the idea of trying to talk to Damon about the previous night and about why he was so upset but she just didn't see the point. It was one of the reasons she had found therapy to be so ineffective. From Damon's worldview, Stefan - There, that was the first point she'd have a problem being understanding about. How had Damon been stupid enough to believe there was any humanity left in Stefan just because he had saved him from Mikael? It had been compelled out! Lights out. Curtain dropped. Scene over! - Stefan had betrayed Damon and _that_ was the sign that he had no humanity left in him. So Damon was having to accept that his little brother had no Jiminy Cricket when he thought Stefan did. It wouldn't do to point out that he had just been refusing to accept the truth the whole time.

 _Stefan_ had destroyed Damon's master plan to kill Klaus. Since Stefan was gone Addie didn't really see the need to tell Damon the truth. Even if Stefan wasn't gone, unless he knew she spilled to Klaus, there was still no reason for Damon to know the truth. Not knowing the truth was _A)_ making him accept the reality of Stefan and _B)_ kept him from getting the wrong idea. After Chicago, Addie understood a little better just how deep Damon's jealousy ran. Damon wouldn't understand that he was fate to die that night, either by the hands of Klaus' hybrids when he killed Klaus or by Mikael if Addie could convince him not to kill Klaus. Trying to convince Damon not to kill Klaus was an idea she had never even entertained; even if Mikael wasn't in the picture she still wouldn't have considered it. He'd been trying to kill Klaus since before the breaking of the hybrid curse. If Addie tried to persuade Damon to let him live, in his mind it would be a clear sign that she liked Klaus, that she had fallen for the bad guy again. She'd seen how he'd hurt when she said she wanted to stay with Klaus in Chicago; she never wanted to see that kind of pain on his face again.

The other problem was that Damon wouldn't have seen the problem with dying if it meant keeping her safe from Klaus. Yes, Addie wanted him gone and preferably dead but nothing was worth Damon's life, other than her family and Bonnie. Too many people had died on her. Damon just didn't understand how _lost_ she'd be without him.

Damon was pissed he hadn't been able to kill the big bad hybrid; Addie was not. She knew Damon thought Klaus was a threat to her and while she still didn't trust him, Addie didn't feel like Klaus was out to harm her, at least not any time soon. And he wasn't going after Elena. And he had his own wishes. And while he had mentioned something about Jeremy, he didn't have a weird, stalker-y obsession with him. For the time being Addie was apathetic to his existence.

So, no. Talking to Damon about his problems wasn't a good idea. Maybe that made her a bad girlfriend but she really felt not talking to him was in his best interest. But she had let him simmer and fester in his own dark thoughts by himself for three hours. That should be adequate alone time if she was seriously trying out this whole theory of putting up with each other's bad moods. Addie had no idea where that thought had come from this morning; she couldn't even reason it out to herself. Damon's temper could get nasty and she didn't like to see that. Why hadn't she just left? Though he hadn't really even been that bad.

Getting up, Addie began to wander the house looking for him. He wasn't in the living room. She doubted he was in his bedroom. It was rare for him to spend time just hanging out in there. As expected, he was in the study. She approached in trepidation as she noticed an empty bottle in front of him and how he toyed with an empty tumbler on the armrest as he looked into the fire.

"Still mad at me?" he asked so quietly but so suddenly Addie jumped.

"Uh," she frowned, trying to remember why she'd be mad, "because of the protein powder?" His head barely moved in acknowledgement. She sighed wearily, "No. I was never mad; I just get frustrated when you do that because I feel like you're trying to deceive me and it makes me feel like I can't trust you." Addie sat next to him, taking his hand in hers and gently squeezing. "I hate feeling like that because I know I can trust you." She waited for him to respond but he didn't. Looking at him questioningly, Addie called, "Damon?" He slowly turned his head to look at her but it was as though he wasn't seeing her. "I _can_ trust you?"

He turned back to the fire and lamented, "Why would you?"

Addie bit her lip. In the initial stages of their relationship this kind of response wouldn't have surprised her but she thought, after everything with Katherine and Elijah and Klaus and every time he came through for her, they had finally reached a place where they just accepted that they were _right_ together.

"How drunk are you?" she inquired, finally placing the glazed look of his eyes.

The corners of his mouth twitched in a bitter smile. "You didn't hear the first three bottles shatter in the fireplace?"

"Guess I was more focused on my calculus than I thought," she mumbled, threading her fingers with his. The first bottle she would have probably left him to carry on being angry. With the crash of a second one, she definitely would have come to check on him, his wrath be damned. Concerned and trying to sense his state of mind Addie pointed to the bottle on the coffee table. "Why haven't you thrown that one?"

It was a long time before Damon answered, sounding perplexed, "Because I don't care?"

"What don't you care about?" pressed Addie.

Damon shrugged. Just as he opened his mouth, Addie's phone began to ring. Quickly fishing it from her pocket, she silenced it and looked expectantly back at him but his reverie seemed to have absolved.

"Who's calling you?" he asked curiously. "You hate to talk on the phone. Everyone knows to text you if they actually want a response."

He had a point. Oh, well. If it was important they would call back. "I didn't check the caller ID. Does it matter?"

"I don't care who you talk to, Addie. It's just weird. Do you really think me that possessive and con-"

He was cut off again by the phone. Addie silenced it again but took the time to glance at the name on the screen. She blanched. Standing up, she quickly put sever feet between her and Damon. She didn't know if he'd seen who was calling or not. Her hand trembled as her fingers ran through her hair. There was no where in this house she could go that Damon wouldn't overhear and she knew the bastard was going to keep calling until she answered.

Putting as much distance between her and the couch, as if it would help anything, she curtly and quickly spoke, "I can't talk right now."

Just as she was about to end the call a dangerous, threatening voice sent chills down her back and made her freeze with a single word. "Don't…. Good," Klaus continued much more jovially, "forgive me for wanting to make sure your boyfriend didn't decide to drug you to death after his little plan was thwarted."

"Shut up," Addie hissed as she watched Damon. His arm was stretched along the back of the couch in a casual manner but she wasn't fooled. He was gripping the tumbler tightly rather than playing with it and he sat as if a rod was keeping his back straight. She'd bet anything that he was listening to every single word.

"We both know you were utterly fucked up last night. That was not some migraine," he retorted coolly, his accent making it sound harsher. "If the truth is as you say, you were drugged before coming to my party, at home. Now, let's think of all the people who might want you drugged."

Knowing everything was pointless with Damon overhearing Addie snapped, "I wasn't drugged. I told you; I stared too long at my cellphone screen and got sick. It happens all the time when I'm working on music. Ask your sister; I was laid up for two days in London because of it."

"We'll get to my sister but wow. So you must have been playing chess for a solid eight hours," remarked Klaus, sounding unconvinced. "Just for curiosity's sake, what were you doing before that? Having a drink with Damon?"

Addie watched as Damon gripped the back of the couch, the muscles in his arm flexing. How the hell did Klaus know that? Damon had… he'd given her the scotch after Elena had daggered Rebekah. He gave her _scotch_. It was just scotch. Her stomach knotted as a snide voice asked, "But since when does Damon encourage you to drink?"

It was just scotch! She'd watch him drink the exact same thing that morning.

Addie leaned against a bookshelf. She could either yell or be overly polite. Something told her she was going to need her voice for dealing with Damon so in a sappy, sugary sweet tone she replied, "I would really appreciate it if you would refrain from making such unfounded and outrageous insinuations without tangible evidence. Is there a purpose for your call, otherwise I must apologize as I am currently occupied."

"Tri-fold call. Part one, reasonable doubt established. Part two, Rebekah," Klaus said darkly. "My sister never appeared at my soiree last night. It was not possible that I missed her. I don't know why or how or what happened that resulted in her helping you to persuade me to come to Mystic Falls but I know that whether or not she wanted me dead, she wanted Mikael dead even more and she should be relishing in this. Where is she?"

"I honestly don't know," Addie muttered in bewilderment. That was why Damon had given her the scotch; to stop her from being so pissed off that Elena daggered Rebekah. Addie's lips pursed. She wouldn't betray her sister like that but if Klaus asked the right question, well, she'd be signing a death wish to lie to him.

Klaus tsked, "I know you're holding something back, Addison."

" _I don't know, Niklaus,_ " she stressed. "I know some people she was supposed to go to the dance with. I'll ask around."

"Tell me who," he demanded.

Addie scoffed and laughed, "Um, hell no. First of all, they're on vervain. Second of all, they're not going to talk to you because you're scary. Third, I'd prefer if their hearts stay in their chest and necks remain properly aligned. I'll find out what I can and let you know. Rebekah's a big girl; trust me, I've seen her handle herself. Part three?"

"Part three, my biggest complication," he sighed. "Have you seen or heard from Stefan since last night?"

"Nope."

"Are you certain?"

"I am fairly certain that I would realize if Damon and Stefan were within shouting distance of each other. It's hard to miss World War III if you're in it," she quipped back sardonically.

"Or when you start it."

She licked at her lips nervously. He was so close to revealing everything if Damon hadn't already figured it out. Hoping she sounded more confident than she felt Addie retorted, "It all comes down to choices, or a lack thereof. You stripped Stefan of his freedom, of his ability to make choices. Now that he has that back and no humanity…. Well, unfortunately I doubt you'll be able to reach him by phone. He's not your buddy from the 20s anymore. The good news for you and bad news for the rest of the world is that he's a ripper. He should be pretty easy to track if you need to reach him that badly. Now, I believe that covers parts one, two, and three, marking the end of this tri-fold conversation."

"Be careful who you trust, Addison," advised Klaus before the line went dead.

Addie silenced her phone before slipping it back into her pocket. Suddenly aware that her palms were damp with anxiety she wiped them on her jean clad thighs. She yelped when a resounding crash split through the silence. Her eyes went wide as she Damon facing her, his arms crossed and his expression unreadable. Her throat felt dry as she looked from the cleared coffee table and to the fire and back.

"Turns out I care. Who knew?" Damon snarled, a mocking edge to his tone.

As she shoved her hands in her back pockets Addie contemplated how she wanted to handle the situation. Run like hell? She was _really_ good at running away from her problems, literally. Running from fights with her parents and sister had led to her finding her stride. Of course, Damon was faster. Play defensively and let him tire himself out? Go on the offensive? Picking a strategy was pointless when she didn't know all the facts, though. Who knew what he had pieced together and she didn't even know if she had a right to be mad.

"Is it true?" she asked softly, refusing to look at him.

He bit the inside of his lip so hard he could taste the blood. It took every bit of control for him not to go to her , begging for forgiveness. The way she said it, the way she refused to look at him, the way her hand ran through her hair. She knew. But he was still pissed and he didn't exactly feel like justifying or explaining his reasoning. He evasively confirmed by demanding what he most wanted to learn, "How does _he_ know?"

Her mouth opened slightly as she sharply inhaled in disbelief, "So it's true."

"I'm not discussing that part right now," Damon glowered. "I'm discussing the part where you tell me how _Klaus_ knows."

Screw that logic. If she wanted a lecture about fraternizing with the enemy, she would have already confessed to everything. Addie mimicked, "I'm not discussing that part right now."

"Addison!" he growled loudly.

"Damon!" she yelled back. Both of them were momentarily stunned by the loudness of her voice. Damon couldn't quickly recall her ever really yelling at him. Into the silence she wondered, "Why do people think using my full name is going to get me to cooperate? It's like the stupidest logic. You want something to go along with you, you placate it, you don't poke it with a stick."

"Now?" he seethed impatiently, running a hand over the lower half of his face. "You're going to do your random ass crap _now_?"

She giggled, satisfied to be aggravating him, "I'll do my random ass crap whenever it damn well pops into my mind, thank you very fucking much." Suddenly she decided, "Chronological order."

He stared at her blankly and said, "Water fountain."

"I want to argue this in chronological order. The way it _should_ have been done from the start but noooooo. Damon "Mr.-I'm-too-good-for-rules" Salvatore likes to cheat."

"Oh, my god," he mutter, rolling his eyes. At some point she'd get around to explaining that one. Why couldn't they both just yell and scream pointlessly, someone throw something, and then have really hot makeup…. He decided he had to fall for the overly analytical, quirky, virtuous girl; that was why and where he'd made the mistake. And he was screwed. He couldn't charm his way out of her anger. He couldn't use his body to distract her from the anger. And he couldn't simply compel his way out it. He raised his hands up in acquiescence, "Alright. What happened first?"

"Elena shoved a dagger into Rebekah! I left her for, like, three minutes and the next thing I know you're telling me she's been daggered! Did you have something to do with that?"

Damon shook his head quickly, "Hell no. Tell Mikael I daggered his daughter? Face her when someone pulls out the dagger because whether it be in five minutes or five hundred years it's going to happen? Oh, and then, best of all, tell my girlfriend I daggered her close friend when I know it's something that's going to piss her off? I'm not suicidal, Addie. Elena must have kept the dagger when she pulled it out of Mikael and the ashes were in here where anybody could get them. You heard your sister in the bathroom talking about how we couldn't trust Rebekah not to turn on us. While I agreed, I chose to form a plan that didn't involve her; your sister chose to stab her in the back, literally."

"She didn't even have the guts to do it to her face," balked Addie.

"It was a very Katherine-esque plan."

"That's…"

"I know," Damon agreed, cocking his head slightly.

Her eyes narrowed and both of their guards went back up. She pointed at him accusatorially, "You blocked me from going to Rebekah. From helping her. From _dealing_ with my stupid sister."

"Yes, I did," he nodded fervently. "You were completely irrational with anger at Elena and when you get pissed at your sister there's almost no point in dealing with you for a good two hours."

"Whether I'm rational or irrational is _not_ your call to make!"

He chuckled darkly and challenged, "What would you have gone and done."

"First I would have pulled the stake out of Rebekah's _back_ ," she sneered.

As soon as she finished Damon snapped his fingers. "You just killed your sister. What's the first thing Rebekah's going to do when she wakes up? Get revenge. You plan to undagger her with Elena right there? _Brilliant_ , Addie."

"Fine," she barked. "I don't do that. I deal with my back-stabbing sister!"

"And how are you going to do that? Are you going to fight her? Then Stefan's going to come after you because he's compelled to protect her. He's _probably_ going to snap your neck before I can even reach him. But let's think positive and say I'm able to intercept him before he can even look at you. Unfortunately he's compelled with no humanity and I'm a man fighting to save the girl I love; it's going to be a nasty fight. He _can't_ stop until he's stopped you. I have to kill my brother.

"Or are you going to yell and scream at her? You two can go at that for hours without noticing your standing in the middle of the circus. Meanwhile, while all this fighting and arguing is going, do you remember the important thing that's happening? We're waiting for Mikael to show back up! He comes back and it's a fucking nut house he's going to know something is up and he's going to find out Rebekah's been daggered and - " he snapped his fingers again, making Addie jump "-we are _all_ dead."

With a sinister smirk Damon gleamed, "Enlighten me, Addie. What _rational_ way were you going to handle that situation?"

The longer she stared at him the thinner her lips got as they pressed into a hard line. Eventually she snidely remarked, "So, of course the obvious thing to do is to drug me instead of saying 'hey, everything you're thinking of doing is a bad idea.'"

"You don't see yourself when you get this upset over your sister! You would have said, 'The first idea is perfect. Let's let Rebekah rip her throat out.'"

There may or may not have been a brief second when Damon was describing what would happen that she entertained the idea of pulling the dagger out to still be a valid option. Still, he drugged her and Addie was pissed at him. She scowled, "God forbid you explain to me that I've gone insane when you could just drug me."

He groaned in frustration, tugging at his hair. Losing his temper he rushed out, "That's exactly the problem, Addie. You go crazy. You reach this state where you can't be reasoned with and you're there for at least two hours. I did not have time to deal with that, to deal with you. I crushed one of your anti anxiety meds into the scotch. It was supposed to make you really tired and I figured you would just sleep the anger off and I could deal with you in the morning. I _never_ thought it would make you sick."

A lead weight settled in Addie's stomach as she listened to Damon. The French toast and chocolate milk from brunch were threatening to make an unsightly return as _those_ three words played over and over in her head. But they weren't just in Damon's voice. _Elena. Her mom. Elena. Jenna. Elena._ Damon.

Ready to run, Addie quickly adopted a cool, nonchalant attitude as she leaned against the door frame of the library. Discretely she tried to critically watch Damon. She wanted to see the jaw dropping moment, to see when the pieces all fit together. He'd dumped a bucket of ice cold reality onto her and he deserved the same. Slowly and clearly she explained, "He knows because he saw me last night. I went to the Lockwood's. I told him you were working with Mikael. I told him about Katherine posing as Elena. I told him I couldn't stop you but there was one person that could. I told Klaus to use Stefan against you. Your plan being ruined, the fact that Klaus is still alive, it's all because of _me_ , Damon."

Addie bit her lip at the confusion on his face; it was taking him too long to figure it out. Two plus two equals four. Simple. She shook her head and turned from the room. Her steps became longer and more purposeful the closer she got to the door. His words were still ringing in her head, clouding up her brain. She hadn't realized how suffocating the house had been until she stepped into the cooling night air and her lungs expanded. Once she heard the door latch close behind her, she off into the increasing darkness.

Easily she ran the trail she and Damon had beaten into the ground during their runs; ten miles of sharp twist and turns that would eventually take her to the house she grew up in. It wasn't home anymore. Damon was but now he wasn't either.

Addie shook her head, her feet striking the ground harder and faster. She didn't want to think; that was why she was running. Echos of voices and the words drowned out the sound of the night and she moved swifter, desperate to get away from them. Still, each step punctuated another word over and over.

 _Deal. With. You._

* * *

Damon stared down at his phone willing the device to light up. He checked his text messages again, just in case she had texted back but his phone never registered receiving a new text. No, still just the list of ones he had sent after she had suddenly vanished.

 **6:15**

 **We are not about to play hide and seek. Get back here.**

 **6:23**

 **Ok. I give up. I've searched the whole house and can't find you. You win. Where are you?**

 **6:25**

 **I'm not amused. Can we act like we're adults and have a grown up conversation?**

 **6:40**

 **Damn it, Addison. Are you even in this house or are you just having a good laugh at me ripping the place apart**

 **6:45**

 **If you left, that's fine. I just need to know where you are.**

 **6:48**

 **Ads, I screwed up. Big time. I know. I'm sorry.**

 **6:54**

 **Please, Addie. Say something. Anything but the silent treatment.**

 **7:00**

 **You have until 7:30 before I start asking people if they've seen you. You know that's going to lead to a whole world of questions that you don't want. I suggest you answer me.**

He was just about to call her when a loud, persistent banging came from the front door. His eyes rolled up as he thanked whatever deity that she had just forgotten her keys. The apology was ready to fall off his tongue when he open the door. "I'm s - you're not Addie," he frowned as he studied a very angry looking Elena.

"No," she retorted shortly, "I'm not. She's about half a foot shorter, has blue hair, stays here and just ran in the house having a damn panic attack. What do you know about that, Damon?"

"She's at home," he muttered to himself, dragging his hand through his hair. He wasn't sure if that was a good sign because it meant familiar is comfort or if it was a really bad sign because he knew how badly she hadn't wanted to stay at home.

Elena glowered at Damon and barreled in past him. "You're missing the import detail of running in with a full blown panic attack. Eyes bulging with fear and is it because of the choking sensation or the fact that it feels like her heart is about to be crushed? We don't know because she's hyperventilating and can't talk. Then there's also the shaking so bad she couldn't climb the stairs. And it's Addie so who the hell knows what kind of horror is going through her head. But it doesn't take much for me to guess that it involves you."

"Why would you think that?" Damon sneered defensively.

"Because if it wasn't you she'd be running _to_ you. What did you do to my baby sister?" fumed Elena.

Damon paced the living room, trying to think. Elena would kill him if he admitted to drugging Addie. Besides, it seemed as if Addie had left before she could get properly upset. If Elena said she'd stormed in as a hurricane of destruction and rage, then it might have something to do with the fact that he spiked her drink. No, she'd left because she'd been bothered about why he did it; which he didn't understand as it made sense as a logical course of action, morally reprehensible but logical.

Sinking into the couch he sighed in defeat, "Honestly, Elena, I have no clue."

"Well, that's a lie."

"I don't know," he stressed. "We were arguing-"

"About what?"

"That doesn't matter; it's not whatever this is about. We-"

Elena scoffed in disbelief, "Seriously, Damon? She leaves in the middle of an argument and you don't think it's over whatever you were arguing about? Do you not understand women at all? What were you fighting about?"

"That's between your sister and me. I know Addie and it's not over what we were arguing about. She would have stayed and bitched me out if that was the case. She didn't though; she just disappeared," he trailed off, staring at his hands. Why stop and tell him what she had? Damon hadn't even started trying to figure out why she told Klaus. He was stuck on why she confessed.

"Ok," she huffed, "maybe it is over what the argument was about if she just suddenly disappeared. My sister is… strange and sometimes a word or a phrase will be enough to make her snap. For example, you don't ever tell her she's acting completely normal. You'd think this would be a good thing because it means she's not in one of her moods but no, she flips and starts having an identity crisis because being abnormal is her normal and, well, it's confusing to explain. Did you say something that might have upset her?"

His hands covered his face as he tried to think of exactly what he had last said to her. "I don't know," he whined. "We were," he stopped, shaking his head. "Nevermind."

"What?"

"I don't want to make things worse between you guys."

"If you were discussing how my sister hates me, it's a quasi-mutual feeling. It's not unlike you and Stefan, just, while you guys have gotten better, we've gotten worse. At the end of the day, she's still my little sister and I'm still tempted to kick your ass for whatever you've done," Elena smiled slightly.

A crease formed between Damon's eyebrows as he briefly considered how Addie might react to him discussing their argument with Elena. He'd deal with that when it came up. "We were more discussing how unreasonable she becomes when she let's herself get mad at you, specifically when you daggered Rebekah."

A speculation to her sister's current state tickled at the corner of Elena's mind as she skeptically questioned Damon, "She didn't interfere with that like I expected. How'd you keep her from doing that?"

He shrugged, evasively answering, "I know how to deal with her."

" _Please_ tell me you did not use that with her," she moaned, rubbing at her forehead.

"What?"

"'Deal with you.'"

Damon paled. His voice came out harsher than he intended, "What if I did?"

Elena gave him a slight, marginally sympathetic shrug. "Then it's a good thing you're already broken up."

"Is that like one of those trigger words?" he muttered.

"Worse. It didn't really mean much when I used it when she was about eight and we started to not get along. I think the first time it ever really _bothered_ her was when one time when our mom used it. Addie was maybe fourteen; I know she'd been dealing with the mood swings for about two years but they were still calling it depression. I don't remember what it was about but Mom and Addie got into this huge argument on the way home from school; they were always fighting." Elena stopped and twisted to face Damon. " _Don't_ tell her I told you this."

"I'm not going to lie to her," he answered slowly, uncertain of what she was getting at or why it mattered.

She nodded, "I know. I'm not asking you to. There's just no reason to bring up the fact that we talked. If she asks, though, of course you'll tell her the truth."

"Ok."

As if the interruption hadn't occurred, Elena continued on, "You know how Addie's moods can flip in a heartbeat. By dinner she was all excited and blabbering on about some new sneakers. My mom was still upset with her from the argument in the car. I guess after two years she'd had enough of the emotional roller coaster or had a really bad day or something but she just snapped and yelled, 'Go to room, Addison. For the life of me I cannot deal with you like this.' It was a shock for everyone. Addie actually did what she was told without any arguing.

"I've used it a few times since then and not in ways to be proud of. Jenna never knew the story of what happened with Mom but she gave Addie another 'can't deal with you' in a moment of exasperation over the summer."

"But… your mom and Jenna, Addie got over it," Damon pointed out hopefully.

Elena cringed. "She lived with them; she had no choice. And even then, she still didn't really get over it. She was always a more controlled, restricted version of herself around them after that."

"So, I'm screwed?"

She considered him carefully. The part of her that had just witnessed her little sister having a panic attack wanted to tell him yes and to stay away from Addie. However, she hadn't spent a single night at home since she had come back from Europe. For some reason she felt more comfortable with Damon than at home, even though they had broken up. He was still good for her, current panic attack aside.

"You might have a chance of recovering things if you talk to her now that you know where you screwed up. I don't know, though. I can't predict my sister. I think it all comes down to exactly what you said and how you choose to handle the situation."

* * *

 _Blank brown eyes of a nameless face stared up at her, the expression set into one of horror and pain. The unkempt beard and short, matted mousy brown hair told her it was a male. Her eyes broke away from his face, desperate to find why he had died with such an extreme look of terror. Where his neck should have been something had seeped into the concrete floor, staining it a dark red. But that had to be a mistake; necks didn't just disappear. Her eyes swept over the patch over red, searching for the rest of his body but it wasn't there. Frantically she looked around for the rest of the man as her throat began to burn and her breathing changed as panic began to fill her._

 _She stumbled backwards in alarm as she spied a headless body clothed in rags a few feet away, another red stain where the neck should have been. A yelp of surprise escaped her as she stepped on something and it rolled out from under her foot. Looking down she began to scream when she saw that she had stepped on another bodyless head, this time one with long, dull blonde hair._

Addie jolted straight up in bed, her breathing labored, her tank top clinging to her back with sweat. She dragged a shuddering hand through her hair as she glanced at the clock on her bedside table. Waking up at seven on a Sunday had never been such a relief. Laying back down on her stomach she grabbed a pillow and dragged it over her head. Sleeping with Damon had kept the nightmares of the summer at bay but she supposed she'd have to find a way to cope with them again.

Her breathing gradually evened out and the terrible images slowly faded away. It was then that she became aware of just how sore and exhausted she felt. The soreness she understood; it had been around a quarter to nine when her body had began to relax from the tensed, clenched state of her anxiety attack. Even she was reasonable enough to take her medication if an attack lasted longer than fifteen or twenty minutes but it was with Damon. And he had drugged her with it.

Addie groaned, tossing the pillow aside. She didn't even want to think about that or the implications of it. All she wanted to do was to be distracted from anything having to do with Damon. The fair amount of homework she had left for history and English should prove to do the job. Except, she groaned again, all her school stuff was at the boardinghouse.

An overwhelming urge to kick and pound her fist against her bed like a two-year-old having a fit on the floor overcame her and she gave into it. So what if she was too old? She was in the privacy of her own room and she was frustrated and it _did_ make her feel a little better.

How was she going to get her stuff for school? She couldn't ask Jeremy to get it; he had already wanted to go after Damon once she had calmed down and she'd had to spend twenty minutes convincing him not to. Alaric, who had never witnessed her have a panic attack, had to continually be reassured by her brother that he should _not_ call 9-1-1 or take Addie to the emergency room as it would only result in things being worse. He had done the only thing he could think of to do besides emergency help and vented and cursed and swore about Damon. Addie had a feeling if she asked him to get her things, there would be a physical altercation. There was no telling how that would turn out. If she asked Elena it meant her sister would talk to Damon and she'd owe her a favor in return. Both those thoughts left her with a bitter taste.

It was only a quarter past seven. If she cut through the woods she could make it there by a quarter 'til eight. Damon would probably still be asleep. Sighing, Addie rolled over and tugged her phone off the charger and checked it for any missed messages. It was unlikely anyone had texted her in the middle of the night but it was a habit. She hadn't looked at it since Klaus had called though and there were a ton of missed text from Damon.

Wait _._

She looked back at her nightstand and held up her charger, looking at it, stupefied. It was one of the things she had left at Damon's. Had he brought it over? It wouldn't be the first time he sneaked into her room in the middle of the night. Her eyes scanned the room as she wondered if he had brought the rest of her stuff. In her desk chair was her backpack, a piece of paper on top of it, held in place by what looked like her set of keys. Hesitantly, she moved to pick it up.

 _Ads,_

 _We really need to talk about what happened. Especially because I don't exactly know what happened. You were there and then you weren't. I can't figure out why you walked away from an argument you could have easily won._

 _Then there's what you said before you left. I can't even begin to process that as I'm too hung up on hashing out the first part of why we were arguing._

 _Please, when you're ready, come back to me and let's deal with this_ _together_ _. Don't leave me wondering and letting my imagination run rampant as I imagine all the worst case scenarios too long. We need to work this out. I miss you._

 _All my love,_

 _Damon_

Damn right she could have easily won that fight! He _drugged_ her! He drugged her because it was easier than taking the time to reason with her. Than dealing with her! A familiar tightening started in her chest. She couldn't think like that. She couldn't dwell on what he had said. Drugging her was a complete breach of the trust he'd earned and she needed to remember that. His reasoning, even if she could understand it, didn't make it permissible. He'd made her sick! He was completely careless and could have done a lot worse. She didn't know much about relationships but she knew enough to know that was _not_ an appropriate way to handle a conflict.

Anxiety replaced with anger and indignation Addie yanked open the zipper of her backpack and tugged out her Latin textbook and laptop. Yes, the least he could do after drugging her was bring her stuff over so, no, she was not going to feel any sense of gratitude towards him for it. She dropped the objects on her bed and headed towards the bathroom. Her teeth needed to be brushed before she could start her homework. Thankfully there would be no sulky vampires to interrupt her routine, unlike the previous morning.

* * *

Damon tugged up the rope ladder leading to the attic and pulled the lever on the ceiling access door to close it. It felt heavy but the inside panel also had a layer of carpeting of covering. The odd entrance probably had something to do with how the attic had been converted into a recording studio for Addie for her 12th birthday. Or as she put, her dad's present for the rest of the family as it meant they no longer had to hear her drums. To her father's credit, he hadn't heard any music until he's opened the hatch. Now that he was in the attic, ricocheting drums layered with electric guitars and a piano almost drowned out the sound of his own thoughts.

He'd never been up here; Addie's music was a world so intimate and personal to her that the closest he'd ever gotten to it was hearing the two songs she could decide between for the London College of Music scholarship application. He would have respected her space, kept his distance, and not disturbed her but it had been four days since she had walked out on him. She was ignoring his calls and texts and had never respond to his note. It left him very uncertain of where they stood or if there was even a 'them' and he just couldn't handle it anymore.

The room was cramped, even for an attic, and odd. Except for where the access hatch was, there seemed to be _two_ floors. The bottom floor was carpeted and the original floor but on top of it and spaced every few inches where thick beams of of some kind of sponge-y material on which a thin platform of more carpeted wood sat. It was like a floating floor but the ground was hard and the black material didn't seem to sink in like he had expected when he stepped onto the raised floor. On the carpeted walls and slanted ceilings sets six columns about 18 inches tall of more black foam were randomly spaced. In one corner was a full drum set with four microphones set up around it and one hanging directly above it. There was a bass with two different sized amplifiers and and a pre amplifier. Pushed against the wall opposite of him was a full sized digital piano with foot pedals, a huge layout of buttons and two cords running from it to the brains of the room. Damon had no idea what the box with a million knobs, switches, and buttons did but he expected all the wires leading out of it connected to instruments or microphones. He knew the three large screens were connected to a computer that allowed Addie to mix everything together. And his ears could attest as to what the large speakers that flanked the screen were for.

He angled himself so he could watch Addie, every so often getting a glimpse of her expression as she swivelled on a rolling stool. Why wasn't she in a more comfortable plush desk chair like she had in her room? The bright screens reflected off her face, which she leaned in so close to the tips of her nose was merely inches away from them. Her eyebrows knitted together like they did when she thought hard. Between her teeth was just a sliver of her lower lips and he could tell from how her chin set that her jaw was clenched. She rolled the chair to the right a few inches, inclining her head towards the speaker and then she did the same as she rolled closer to the left speaker. Her eyes flickered across the three screens and Damon could see her barely move the mouse. She repeated the process of listening. He tried to detect a difference but though he couldn't. The broad grin on Addie's face suggested she did, though. How was that even possible? His hearing was far superior to hers. The music stopped and Damon was about to announce his presence when it started up again. A simple piano melody and mellow drums cut through the air. It definitely didn't sound like the same song as before. A chill ran down his spine as the sound smoothly shifted into what he had heard before, except this time there was a voice. Her voice.

 _I see a flicker in the lighting_

 _Coming from behind an open door_

 _I see a silhouette lining_

 _I can't help but moving towards_

 _It's such a dangerous display_

 _I'm closing in on a dark, black alley_

 _I throw myself into the flames_

 _I'm burning, I'm yelling_

 _Come and get me_

 _So I guess it's my fault, put me on the stand_

 _I said that it was suffering and grabbed you by the hand_

 _And you were there in front of me telling me to stand down_

 _But I couldn't let go now_

 _Just a glance and you took me_

 _There in a heartbeat_

 _I was in the dark and you found me_

 _Crawling at your feet_

 _I couldn't get out_

 _You see, you got me_

 _You got me hostage, hostage_

 _But there's no need for holding, holding_

 _You got me hostage, hostage_

 _But you know I wanted you to hold me_

 _I spent so much time pretending_

 _Pointing fingers at you_

 _In denial, it's so easy_

 _Blame the pain on somebody who knew_

 _You knew just how to save me_

 _But you didn't now, did you now?  
_

 _Instead you took me by the heartstrings_

 _And I let you tear it out_

 _So I guess it's my fault, put me on the stand_

 _I said that it was suffering and grabbed you by the hand_

 _And you were there in front of me telling me to stand down_

 _You got me hostage, hostage_

 _But there's no need for holding, holding_

 _You got me hostage, hostage_

 _But you know I wanted you to hold me_

 _And if you hold me down I'm not a fighter_

 _But if you could let me down slow_

 _I don't plan on fighting this flame with fire_

 _I just need you to let me go_

 _(Complete song can be found at_ youtu.

be/HFzaTncFr1A _)_

By the time the song had ended Damon's hands were shoved into his pockets to keep from balling them into fist. Furiously in a deathly whisper he hissed, "So, you saved Klaus because you like, _want_ Klaus,"

At the sound of Damon's voice Addie's blood turned to ice. Slowly she spun her stool to face him. Horrified and embarrassed she quietly uttered, "You're not supposed to be in here." Noticing a tear and darker patch surrounding it on his black t-shirt she added, "And you're covered in blood again. You're always covered in blood."

"I'm not supposed to be in here?" he bellowed, grateful for the soundproofing. "Of _all_ our fucking issues your biggest problem is that I'm in here! Seriously, Addie!"

If he was in the room it meant that she had to face him and face all their issues, which she was not prepared to do. Were he gone, she could continue pretending as if there was nothing wrong. It made perfect sense to her that him being there was her biggest problem. Of course she couldn't just explain that to him because that meant dealing with her odd sense of logic and perception.

"Why do you think I want Klaus?" she asked in befuddlement.

"I just heard your song and you saved his life!" Damon yelled, too distressed to control the volume of his voice.

Addie looked at him quizzically. The song wasn't even vaguely romantic; it was about pain and solace. She shook her head. "We must have listened to two different things."

His jaw tensed and he snapped, "Was or wasn't that song that song about Klaus?"

This was the number one reason she hated sharing her music; she hated explaining it. It was too intimate. At one point she might not have minded sharing with Damon but not anymore and especially not _this_ song; it was too complicated. She gave him an easier answer to deal with than the truth.

"Sort of."

"And you want him to hold you!"

"No!"

He pointed an accusatory finger at her and stressed, "You said it."

As her foot tapped impatiently Addie crossed her arms. She huffed, "No, I didn't."

"You just said the song was about Klaus!"

" _Sort of_. That part is about you," she flushed.

Damon made for a retort but faltered. His mouth opened and closed several times before he said, "I don't understand."

She shrugged. "I'd say 'sorry' except I'm not. You understanding isn't my problem."

He bit down on his tongue to keep from spouting out the first thing that came into his head. What the hell did that mean? Did that mean she didn't care if he thought she liked Klaus? Did she like Klaus? Were they over? Or was this all because she was pissed at him?

Sighing, he dragged over the piano bench and sat across from her. Elena had said something about her being more reserved and less of herself after the "deal with you" incidents. Damon felt Addie would have normally explained it to him. He just had to convince her to do that.

"Make me understand," he pleaded, reaching for her hand. A sharp pain pierced his chest when she flinched away. "Addie, I _need_ to understand this. I don't understand anything happening between us right now. I'm lost and it's killing me." He could read the anxious hesitation in her wide eyes. "Love, please. Explain it for me."

Reluctantly she mumbled, "The night I asked Klaus about coming back to Mystic Falls has just been on my mind a lot. I learned there is so much more that he know about _what_ I am that he won't say. I learned that Jeremy has the possibility of becoming something. And I decided your flames are like the sun and his are like a wildfire. There was just a lot that happened that night that kept filling my head so I decided to write it out."

Suddenly Addie's ocean blue eyes narrowed at him and she scowled, "And then _you_ happened. I've been trying so hard not to think about you. Every time I start to get you off my mind and I find a second of sanity, you come creeping back in. I was writing about that night with Klaus and then somehow _you_ end up in there. Then I'm able to shove you out again for like half a nanosecond. But there's you and Klaus and the drugging and the blackmailing and the anger and the pain and it's all just screaming chaos in my head. Writing is the only thing I can do to shut the volume off and what comes out is _good_ but lines blur and there are parts where I can't tell what is Klaus and what is you and I realize some of it is actually both of you."

She still only made sense in her own little world. With great struggle Damon managed to keep his voice gentle as he asked, "How can it be both of us?"

Addie's brows furrowed as she saw the direction he was heading. He wasn't going to like it. Defensively she pouted, "You're the one constantly worried about me falling for the bad guy again because I've done it before. Clearly you must see similarities between the two of you if you're worried about that."

"What part of the song is about both of us?"

She scoffed humorlessly, looking helplessly up at the ceiling, "He used everyone I care about to geographically make me his hostage this summer. You've got me so fucked up that I'm your emotional hostage."

"What?" gaped Damon. "Ads, I would never… how do you even figure that?"

" _You_ _drugged me_ and I'm having a hard time staying mad at you. What you did showed a complete lack of respect, broke the amazing amount of trust I had in you and breaks my heart but I still…," she trailed off, shaking her head. Addie looked at him imploringly, begging him to understand. "I barely sleep because I have nightmares when I'm not with you. I haven't eaten because the thought of it makes me sick. My homework isn't getting done because I can't focus on anything but you."

"You still care about me," he murmured in relief.

She shrugged noncommittally. Of course she did but she couldn't find an argument to make that count for much when she couldn't trust him.

"Why did you leave?" he inquired earnestly. Elena had told him but he needed to hear her say it. It needed to be voiced and clarified if he wanted to fix things.

"It doesn't matter."

He shook his head, frowning. How could she possibly think that? "Addie, everything you do matters to me. I've been losing my mind not knowing if you were ok these past few days. It's why I'm here. I know I said to come to me when you're ready but I can't stay away that long. Talk to me." It didn't matter if he sounded like a desperate, pathetic idiot. That was exactly what love was.

"You drugged me because you didn't have time to deal with me," she whispered, staring at her hands. "What happens when you get tired of dealing with me?"

Damon pulled the rolling stool until she sat right in front of him, ignoring the way she winced when he got close. He brushed a lock of hair behind her ear, his fingers gently brushing her cheek. His hand and heart fell as she leaned away from him. Crestfallen he bemoaned, "Why can't I touch you?"

Inhaling sharply Addie forced herself to meet his piercing ice blue eyes. She had to be firm about this. Slowly she said, "You drugged me. I don't _trust_ you, Damon."

He cocked his head in confusion. The not trusting him made sense but touching her? "You think I'm going to hurt you or something?"

"No."

"Then what is it?" She didn't answer him. Running his hand through his hair he sighed, "Addie, I made a mistake. I've been replaying that incident over and over and trying to think of what I should have done. The truth is that I have no idea. I know that the right answer is that I should have talked to you and reasoned with you. However I also know that would have taken a few hours; I've tried it before. Mikael showed up within half an hour, without knocking. He would have heard me trying to reason with you over his daggered daughter. So, as we all would have ended up dead if I pick the _right_ answer, I can't say that it's what I would have done. It is, in fact, _exactly_ why I said I didn't have time to deal with you. It wasn't that I didn't want to do the right thing but I didn't have the time."

Damon shook his head, unable to help a soft chuckle. "Love, the only person I can think of that's more stubborn than you _might_ be myself. Mixing your medication into scotch and then getting you to drink it was wrong, really, really wrong. So, after thinking about this the only alternative I can come up with involves tying you up and gagging you. I can't let you move because you'll undagger Rebekah and she'll kill your sister. I can't let you talk because you're going to talk about Rebekah being daggered and Mikael is going to kill us all when he overhears that."

"The only _reasonable_ solutions you see involve me either drugged or bound and gagged!" Addie cried incredulously, holding her head as if the two thoughts were enough to make it explode.

He quickly held up his hands in a defensive manner and quickly pointed out, "I never said either option was _reasonable._ While taking my ties from fashionable neckwear to nifty wrist restraints and crude gag was one possibility, I don't exactly think that was the moment to introduce some light BDSM into this relationship."

"Damon!" Addie shrieked, coloring bright red.

"Or maybe it was," he shrugged, smiling coyly. Oh, it was so wrong to play with her but, well, it wasn't as easy to embarrass her as it was before and she just looked too adorable when she blushed. Foregoing his awful attempt at an apology he teased, "Or perhaps it's just the thought of using my ties in such a lascivious manner that has you all hot and bothered. I noticed when Stefan asked to borrow one that you know not only knew the brand but also the price range of my favorite tie. Considering your fashion knowledge is essentially nonexistent, that is fascinating information. Are you that well-versed in all my neckwear or just my ties?"

Through gritted teeth she mumbled, "I don't like you."

"No, you don't," Damon quietly agreed. The corners of his mouth twitched imperceptibly. He couldn't tell if she was more embarrassed or livid. All he knew was that he ached to kiss those pouting lips. "You _really_ don't like me right now," he murmured, unable to look away. Lightly, he added, "You still… _care_ about me, though." He was smart enough not to aptly say that she loved him.

Her eyes were hard and icy as she softly challenged, "You ever question why that is? Or just how far you can push me before I simply stop caring? I'm really considering both of those right now."

Instantly he sobered. Addie was clearly not in a mood to be messed with. Somberly he admitted, "I question why you care every single day. Every day I wonder if today is going to be the day I go too far and screw it all up… Is that today?" Damon's breath caught in his throat as he desperately reached out for her hand, ignoring how she flinched.

"No," she grumbled sharply, snatching her hand away from him. Addie rolled her chair back a few inches. She needed to keep space between them to keep a clear head. It was unsettling to see Damon anxious and afraid. She bit at her lip to keep from comforting him. Reminding herself to stay firm, she told him, "I've told you I'd only break up with you if you cheated on me or hit me, otherwise I believed in working out our problems. I _never_ fathomed that you'd drug me or else I would have added that. I suppose it's my fault for assuming you were above that. In case the situation and the severity of what you done is unclear and you're ever stupid enough to consider drugging me again, I will let you know that it's now on the list of reasons that I will break up with you."

"You're not leaving me?"

She suppressed the pull at the corner of her mouth as she glared at him. "Not today…. That doesn't mean I'm not still pissed off at you."

"Completely understandable," he grinned.

"Stop smiling."

"Sorry."

"You're still smiling."

Damon tried to frown and look properly chastened but failed. He shrugged apologetically. "I've been thinking I've lost you since you walked out on me. That's not happening. I can't help it."

"Whatever," muttered Addie, turning back towards her computer.

At this his lips fell. His eyebrows knitted in confusion. "That's it?"

Her back straightened as she tensed. She kept her voice flat and neutral as she said, "What do you expect? Should I yell and scream? Is that going to make you feel any more sorry about what you did?"

"You're still angry."

She sighed in exasperation, "Of course I am."

It wasn't like Addie to just drop something if she was still upset about it. He expected _something._ "Well aren't we going to like, I don't know, talk about it or something?"

"What's that going to change? You see what you did as justifiable and believe you had no other choice. You're not going to change your mind. I just have to deal with the fact that you're an idiot," mumbled Addie.

His hand dragged through his hair as he fought to keep his patience. That explained why she'd dropped it. "God, Addie. I _want_ to deal with you. Yes, you drive me ten types of crazy but I love you. I am a stubborn idiot and I'm not going to change my mind but we can still fight about it."

"Fighting with you would be pointless."

"Our arguments rarely have a point," Damon noted dryly. "Plus, just because it won't change anything doesn't mean you won't feel a little better after it." When she ignored him he added, "Or you can pout like a child, which is truly pointless."

"I'm not pouting," she snapped, very whiny sounding.

Damon's lips twitched as he studied her. As if he were talking to small child he placated her, "Of course you're not."

Addie whipped around in her chair, glaring at him. Indignantly she huffed, "Don't patronize me!"

"Then act your age."

She looked at him incredulously and scoffed, "Pot. Kettle. Black."

"Yes, well, I'd be rather dull and dead-like if I acted 170-something," he retorted smartly.

"Or, you know, God forbid you act like someone who's lived enough lifetimes to learn some maturity."

Damon tilted his head at her as if he didn't understand her point. "Again, dull and dead-like."

"Forgot I'm dealing with the king of irrationality," she scowled, tapping at the keyboard.

He stretched out, barely hooking his fingers under the stool and yanked her until the stool rolled in front of her again. Addie tried to move away from him again but he stuck his foot in the way and gave her a challenging look. When he was convinced she wasn't going to try and roll over him to get away he curiously wonder, "That's a fair point. Why do _you_ deal with _me_?"

Addie's brows furrowed and she slowly shook her head. Baffled she tried to explain, "I don't _deal with you_. Do I choose to tolerate or put up with some annoying aspect of you from time to time? Yes. That doesn't make you some kind of problem that I have to deal with like a broken toilet or a clogged drain."

"You are _so_ random," Damon uttered, his lips curling into a small smile. A commanding finger lifted her chin, forcing her to look him in the eye. "Addie, I'd be lying if I said you weren't sometimes a complication and sometime I have problems with you but you are never _the_ problem. You can give me a headache but you don't make me want to rip my head off. Klaus is a problem. Katherine is a problem. My humanity depraved brother is a problem. You just drive me ten types of crazy. Faulty plumbing just drives me one type of crazy," he winked. "When I say I have to deal with you it's not a bad thing. I'm lucky I get to do that. It's actually something I thoroughly enjoy doing except when you're doing something that puts your life in danger because…"

She crossed her arms and looked at him expectantly as he trailed off. Not amused but interested in where he was headed with his horrible attempt at what she thought was an apology Addie prompted, "Because?"

Crossing his arms Damon mockingly mirrored her expression. He wasn't going to test and see if she was up for verbal sparring again but he couldn't just let her sass him without some reaction. Carelessly he shrugged, "Because when you're in danger I get scared. All I want to do is focus on getting you safe; _that's_ the only time I don't enjoy dealing with you. Being unreasonable about your sister and Rebekah when Mikael could show up at any moment was dangerous. I didn't like dealing with you in that one particular moment. Otherwise, I love dealing with you." Remembering what she had first asked him he added, "It's not something I'm going to get tired of. Understand?"

"Fine," she grumbled.

"So you're going to keep being your complicated, unexplainable, random self that I love?" Addie nodded and, with a big smile, he moved in to kiss her but she leaned back. Moving back into his own personal space Damon scratched at his eyebrow and sighed in confusion, "I need you to explain your unexplainable self. I don't get this whole thing where I can't touch you."

"It's complicated, unexplainable, and random," she shrugged, giving him a weak, unreturned smile. Her eyes diverted helplessly from him as she struggled to explain, "It's like the rational part of me knows that you would never hurt me. But the rational part of me also thought you would never drug me. Part of me feels like I need to question my judgment because I am obviously making the wrong choices."

"You think you were wrong to trust me?" he whispered, horrified.

"You _did_ drug me."

There wasn't anything he could say to argue against that. His fingers twitched as they rested on his knee. "I've admitted to screwing up. I broke your trust. I ha - I thought I had no choice. Ads, your trust in me wasn't misplaced or wrong. I just made a mistake. I never meant to hurt you. I would never want to hurt you. In fact, I usually go out of my way to not hurt you. I don't do that for people; if they're in the crossfire of something I'm going to do, that's their problem. You're the exception, you're always the exception."

Addie shifted uncomfortable under his intense, intimate gaze. Sadly she reminded, "Remember after the holidays you were still in a funk after the tomb fiasco and I called you for a ride back from my lake house because -"

"It was the least I owed you after forcing you into a road trip to Georgia?" he finished wistfully. There was no way he'd ever forget the night he realized he had something even remotely close to actual feelings for her. "Vaguely."

"We both agreed then that I would be completely stupid to ever fully trust you. I was completely stupid. I'm not… I won't let that happen again."

Damon groaned softly at the uncomfortable squeezing in his chest. "Addie, no," he begged. "I was wrong about that. I was scared. I was afraid of abusing your trust. Then I thought I would intentionally do it but it turns out that I have unintentionally done it. But you don't have to worry this time. I see how bad I've hurt you. It's not going to happen again.'

"That's just it, though. You broke my trust inadvertently. Hell, you thought you were protecting me! It's kind of hard for me to trust you when you can't tell right from wrong," Addie lamented.

"I admitted I was wrong!"

"But you still would have made the same choice again!"

He growled, standing up and pushing his fingers through his hair, tugging at the ends in frustration. Once he'd paced to the other side of the room he turned back to her. His voice was strained as he fought to keep it level, "Why do you insist on living in this world where everything is black and white? Fact or fiction. Truth or lie. There is a scale of 'right' and 'wrong' and drugging you lies somewhere on the 'wrong' end of that scale but it's not entirely wrong. It had the right intentions behind it Addison, it's only because I believe in shades of gray that I haven't lost my fucking mind over what you said right before you left. In case you forgot, me being pissed off at you for telling Klaus everything would be completely justifiable."

Addie gaped at him in disbelief before eventually snarling, "You wanna talk about Klaus? If it wasn't for him ratting you out, were you ever going to tell me you drugged me?"

A pinched, sour smile graced his lips. "Talk about an unfair question. I tell you the truth and you get pissed at me for lying about drugging you. I lie and you get pissed at me for lying to tell you the 'right' answer. I'm gonna be wise enough to not answer that and, therefore, not get bitched at for lying."

"Where's Rebekah?" she demanded sharply. Whether or not he answered the question it still took a lot for her not to go off on him about lying. But at least it meant she could trust him to be honest. Or was he only being honest because she'd catch him in a lie?

"Random! So fucking random! Why does it matter? We're in the middle of an argument and you want to, what? Worry about Rebekah so you can go undagger her? We've already discussed the outcome of that!" Damon snapped. Perhaps he had exaggerated when he said he loved to deal with her. If she could just stay focused…

"Klaus is still," she waved her hand around in the air vaguely as she stood up, letting the motion finish her sentence. "He's suspicious about his sister. I said I'd ask about her."

Damon rubbed at his forehead, trying to suppress a dark laugh. "And you actually intend to report back to him?"

"He's _Klaus_!"

"And your sister literally stabbed his sister in the back!"

"Then it's a good thing he needs my sister alive to make more hybrids," she replied smugly.

"No, he might not kill Elena for what she did but he'll make her pay. Doesn't killing her sister in exchange for what she did to his sister sound like poetic justice?" Damon hissed. He wouldn't touch her but he did something that he never did and stepped right up to her, using his height to advantage. Fire flickered in her eyes as she tilted her head back to look up at him. "Don't talk to him, Addison."

Addie smiled at him as she gently brushed the hair off his forehead. Too sweetly she replied, "It's ok for you to admit you're jealous."

"I'm not jealous," he glowered. "Klaus is going to _kill_ you. I'm telling you not to do something stupid. I'm being protective, not jealous."

In her eyes the flames of anger turned to daggers of ice. "If you have a few hours I believe we can compile an exhaustive list of the stupid things we've both done and see which one of us is actually prone to doing them. Spending 145 years trying to open a tomb, nearly getting myself killed numerous times, turning people into vampires because I was bored, breaking up with my girlfriend, and drugging my girlfriend are all not on my list. Really, my list consist of dating you once, trusting you, dating you again, and, well, more of you. This doesn't concern you so I'm fairly certain I'll be smart about it."

"You're pretty stupid where Klaus is concerned," Damon said the words flying out of his mouth before he could check them.

"Oh?"

His shoulders sagged wearily at the challenge in her voice. "That's not what I mean. You just make some stupid decisions when he is involved. You provoke and antagonize him. You take him up on the scholarship. You-"

"He wasn't exactly in a mood to hear no."

"-spend the summer with him. You have friendly little chats. You befriend his sister."

"Have you ever considered that I might be the only smart one around here? I'm pretty much the only one who hasn't been royally fucked by him. Maybe playing nice with the narcissistic psychopath isn't such a bad idea," Addie mused.

Damon rolled his eyes. "Just because it worked on me doe-"

She cut him off, shaking her head, "You're a sociopath, not a psychopath. At least I'm like 95% certain you're a victim of your environment between Katherine and the tiny little fucked up bit I know about your childhood. Speaking of Katherine, though, playing nice also worked with that narcissistic psychopath."

"Katherine betrayed us to Klaus!"

"Well, yeah but I was talking about when she first showed up and I agreed to help her do whatever she came to town to do and she promised to get you and Stefan out of town."

"That didn't work! She ended up in the tomb and I'm standing right here!"

"Yes, Sherlock, but she was never going to break her end of our deal. _I_ was the one to screw _her_ over that time," Addie impatiently explained.

"So what? This is all some of your grand master plan?" he scoffed, his light blue eyes wide. "Being nice to the bad guys is how we're supposed to function? Are we all suppose to hold hands and sing the Barney song and kumbaya?"

She snorted at the mental image that came to mind. Tired of looking up at him, Addie sat back down on the stool. As she rolled it back to the computer she retorted, "You couldn't do that even if you tried. I expect you to continue handling him in your scheming ways. My grand master plan doesn't involve you."

"Addie, if you're thinking of taking on Klaus you are going to get yourself killed."

"I'm going to get myself killed if I talk to him, according to you," she mumbled as she unwrapped the cord from around a pair of large headphones. This was growing rather tedious and uninteresting. And she could feel herself growing furious with the lack of respect he was showing her, between the drugging and thinking she couldn't hand Klaus and everything else. Before Addie could say something to cause nuclear damage she put the headphone in place, plugged him in and just before blasting some music told him, "Just go away, Damon. You already pushed me to talk when your note said you'd give me space. I need space. Go away."

* * *

 **A/N: Poor Damon hasn't even gotten a chance to respond to Addie screwing him over! Well, Klaus swings by for a visit and all three of them "clear the air," or just making everything worse, next chapter.**

 **On another note, I started in January of 2015 with the Control series having it's own plot line separate from the show at a certain point. I have only watched the first half of the first episode of season seven for a variety of reasons. However, this week I learned from a friend who is obsessed with the show that what I have had planned has kind of happened. I don't know all the details behind it and I'm not sure I want to. The only thing certain right now is that this story, particularly Addie and how she's different, is suffering from an extreme case of an identity crisis. Now I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing with this thing. I don't know if I'm going to continue it, scrap it, try and come up with some bizarre new plot trajectory that makes sense. I don't know.**


	12. Chapter 11

If she had known Damon was going to be at the Grill Addie never would have agreed to meeting Bonnie. The rest of the week had passed without a peep from him, which was good. It had been even better when the next few weeks had as well. She hadn't been lying when she told him she needed some distance from him. It was so weird to feel like she couldn't trust him. Every time she told herself she could because he was _her Damon_ and would never hurt her, there was a nagging, uncomfortable twisting in his stomach. What really bothered her, though, was that she wasn't convinced Damon thought what he did was wrong on any level.

Any time a vampire had tried to deceive her on any level, to the best of her knowledge, Addie had always sensed something _off_ radiating from the vampire, like a bad aura. When Damon had decided to give her the drink there hadn't been a negative energy coming from him. In fact, even later that night and the next morning she didn't sense anything dark or shady from him, like he was hiding a secret. The only way she could make sense of Damon not giving off a bad vibe was if he truly believed he wasn't doing anything wrong. It was possible that during their time apart he had changed his mind but he was one stubborn dick and she wasn't entirely convinced he had like he'd said. There was that whole scale of right and wrong that he had talked about and he would do it again; that didn't make it sound like something he repented.

"Addie!"

"Sorry," she mumbled, tearing her gaze from Damon's back and looking at Bonnie. "What did you say?"

"Every time I close my eyes I have that nightmare! On repeat!"

Addie bit at her lip as she tried to think of what nightmare Bonnie was talking about. For how long had she spaced out of the conversation? Her brows furrowed as she innocently asked, "The same dream?"

The witch grimaced, "Yeah! Four coffins at the old witch house and Klaus is in one of them. It's weird."

"I don't suppose your dream is telling us _how_ we get Klaus into the coffin, does it?" Bonnie shook her head. After a moment of thinking Addie smirked at her best friend, "What if it's like a return-to-Dracula you're seeing where and in what Klaus sleeps."

Bonnie snickered, "I don't think so. Besides that would mean it's like a witch dream and it's not. It's just the stress knowing he's still out there and he knows we tried to kill him." Her eyes flickered towards Damon and she added, "Well, _you_ didn't try to kill him."

"Mmm," Addie hummed neutrally. She hadn't told Bonnie what Damon had done; she hadn't told anyone. Their tolerance and acceptance of Damon's less than appropriate behavior only stretched so far. Plus, she didn't need the lecture about staying with someone who would drug her. After about the tenth time she was starting to get pissed off at herself every time her own mind started on it. As far as anyone knew, she wasn't involved in the plan because Damon hadn't wanted her involved. It was true enough.

"What about Stefan? Has there been any sign of him?" the other girl asked quickly, seeing a cool shift in Addie's demeanor.

She flinched internally. That was something she still hadn't even discussed with Damon. Again she lied, "He betrayed us, Bonnie. The Stefan that we know is gone."

"How's Damon handling it?"

Addie frowned, her eyes traveling moving to Damon's broad back and the way his leather jacket stretched across it. She didn't know. She'd been too focused on her own issues with Damon to think about his issues with everything, particularly his disappearing brother. It looked like he had half the bar in front of him; how much of that was because of her versus what was over Stefan? Would explaining to him what happened between Klaus and herself help? She didn't know what Klaus had told Stefan to convince him to save him. Had he ordered it? Persuaded him so that Stefan _had_ betrayed them? Or told Stefan that Damon would die if he did and managed to tap into Stefan's humanity?

Shrugging she answered uncertainly, "Damon is… _Damon_."

After a minute Bonnie quietly confessed, "Elena told me about your panic attack and that you've been staying at home."

"Like I said, he's _Damon_. We got into a fight," Addie mumbled.

"You can talk to me, you know."

With a small, sad smile she shook her head. "No, I can't. You can't talk to me about Jeremy because he's my brother and I'm biased. I can't talk to you about Damon because he's your natural enemy and you're biased."

"Is there anyone _not_ biased when it come to Damon, particularly you and Damon?" Bonnie challenged.

"Even though he was Damon's brother, I don't think Stefan was biased. I think he's the only person who didn't automatically assume the worst of Damon if I was upset," she decided after careful consideration.

Addie froze when Alaric, who was sitting a few seats over from Damon with a stack of papers in front of him caught her eye. Confusion filtered through her at the angry and frustrated look he gave her. She couldn't think of anything she had done to warrant that expression. He cocked his head, gesturing for her to come over. Excusing herself from Bonnie, Addie made her way to the bar. She leaned against it, her back purposefully to Damon. Casually she asked, "What's up?"

"Do you know where your brother is?" Alaric demanded.

Her lips pursed and her arms crossed as she felt herself go into protective mode. Defensively she retorted, "Just because Elena has you playing the guardian because she got ours killed _again_ doesn't mean you actually are our guardian. That means Jeremy doesn't have to report his every movement to you. He's allowed to be wherever he wants."

"Ok," he drawled out. Addie's attitude towards him was always so mercurial and he could never predict if she was going to like him or not. "Well, I am his teacher and that's why he has to explain to me why he copied his entire mid-term off of the internet. I'm not required to care about him but I do which explains why I'm curious as to why he was fired a week ago but is still lying about being employed."

"Oh."

"Oh," Alaric repeated. His eyes flickered towards Damon and back to Addie. Going from gentle to strict he continued, "What's going on with you and Jeremy? He's plagiarizing his paper. You don't even bother to turn one in. In fact, you've missed four days of school in two weeks. What happened to the straight A's?"

A crease formed between Damon's eyebrows as he frowned. Sharply he asked, "When did you miss school, Addie?"

Addie's jaw clenched as she pointedly ignored Damon; it was none of his damn business.

"Well, there was two days last week and then two days this week," supplied Alaric.

"Why were you absent?"

Her eyes narrowed so much Alaric wasn't even certain Addie could still see him. Ignoring Damon she told him, "I can get Jeremy to show up at the house. I'm not going to help you and Elena chew him out."

He nodded in thanks. "We won't chew him out. I just think it's time that _all_ of us have a typical, atypical family dinner."

"Shame I'll miss it. I have plans," she muttered, pushing herself off the bar and turning away.

"Addison!"

Her dyed blue hair whipped around her face as she quickly spun back around to face Alaric, her eyes bright with fire. Vehemently she quietly fumed, "You do _not_ call me that. You're not family. You're not the boss of me. Elena and Jeremy can play pretend all they want but it doesn't change anything. Stop trying to play 'dad' or 'uncle' or whatever it is with me."

Damon watched her with interest as she stormed back towards Bonnie. "I wouldn't take it personally," he advised Alaric, finishing his glass of bourbon and promptly pouring another; he wasn't exactly sure why he was bothering with the glass. "She doesn't like to be called by her full name."

"I gathered that," the other man muttered. Suddenly worried he asked, "Damon, me being at the house, does that have something to do with why Addie stays with you?"

He shrugged, swivelling on the barstool. "It's possible but it's not about you. In her eyes you're there because Elena wants you there. If it's something Elena wants, Addie generally doesn't agree with it. Or it could be she blames Elena for her parents, John and Jenna, meaning there should be no one left to be in charge and you being there disrupts the way things should be, in her mind. I just know that the reasons that culminate in her not staying at home have to do with Elena."

"Why is she back home? What did you do to her?"

"We had a fight."

"You always fight. What did you do?" hissed Alaric.

Damon finished the last of his glass, which was unfortunately the last of the bottle and stood up. "Ric, we both know I'm not stupid enough to tell you what happened if you're just going to get protective of her and stake me again. Make up your mind on if you want to be my friend and you're asking because you actually care or not."

Wandering over to the dartboard Damon yanked out the six darts. Addie moved into his peripheral vision as he backed up to the line twenty feet from the board and began shooting.

"Jeremy, call me the minute you get this. I swear to God, Jer, you wanna get to me before Elena and Alaric get to you. Call me!" she exclaimed into the phone, careful to keep her voice low enough to not draw attention. Pocketing her cell she bitterly laughed, "Unbelievable!"

He quickly looked at her before becoming very focused on aligning a dart. Trying to sound disinterested her muttered, "Do I suddenly exist now?"

"Uh-uh," Addie said firmly, shaking her head. "Right now I'm processing what's going on with my fucked up brother. I cannot handle one of your attitudes at the moment."

"He's fucked up because he lost his job at the Grill? He _can_ survive, Addie. You're overreacting."

"He's spiraling! Ever since Bonnie broke up with him he's moody, he isn't really talking to anyone - "

"Sounds exactly like you. But he's at least bothering to turn in his homework and going to class," he interrupted, firing his last dart into the bullseye.

"This isn't about me!"

Damon smiled at her over his shoulder as he collected the darts again. "Of course it's not."

There was something about the way his smile didn't quite reach his glassy, cool eyes that made her snap, "Is there something you want to say to me?"

He shook his head as he moved to start shooting the darts again. "These past weeks you've missed school four times and you haven't turned in your work and I'm the equivalent of gum on the bottom of your shoe. Am I not supposed to think that's not all linked together?"

"I didn't go to school because I didn't have my work done and if I missed a day that gave me a whole day to do it and it meant I could turn it in late without getting points taken off if I said I was sick. I didn't have my work done because I kept getting distracted by thoughts of you. Yes, it's all connected. Yes, it all comes back to you. Happy now?" she sneered viciously

"No," he answered through gritted teeth. The dart struck the board harder than he intended, sinking in well past the pointed tip.

"Huh?"

"Addie, your education is very important to you. That makes it very important to me. You screwing up in school is not something that's going to make me happy, especially if I'm the reason," explained Damon.

She frowned as he sunk another dart with strength beyond that of a typical human. If he kept it up Damon was going to go through the game board and into the wall. People would definitely be asking questions then. She moved closer to him and softly Addie inquired, "You okay?"

He shot another dart far too hard before looking at her with a hooked, quizzical eyebrow. "What makes you think I'm not ok?"

"Your dart throwing isn't exactly inconspicuous. Not to mention you're day drunk. It's not exactly your most attractive look," she shrugged innocently.

"Hmm…" Unconsciously Damon took a step towards her. He had to shove the hand not holding any darts into his pocket to keep from touching her as he wondered, "What is my most attractive look?"

Smirking, Addie straightened the collar of his leather jacket, keenly aware of his eyes on her. "Before I knew I was going to be leaving for England and had to fit what I could of you into a suitcase, so your cologne, which I then had to replace, I was originally going to get you a tie for your birthday. Obviously I wanted to get you one you liked so I became very familiar with your collection. I thought, I don't know, maybe if I got one for you, you'd find more reasons to wear it," she admitted, trying to sound bold but turning bright red.

"Wait a minute," he mumbled thoughtfully, his hand brushing along the scruff on his cheeks and chin. "I thought you liked this. Have I cut my shaving down to just Sundays and Wednesdays for no reasons?"

Her fingertips skimmed along his jaw, the smattering hair a conflicting feeling of rough yet soft. She quietly reassured him, "I like it."

"You are just full of contradictions, aren't you? You think my best look is dressed up in a tie but unshaven like I don't care?"

"Yeah but you're forgetting the 'just-rolled-out-of-bed' hair. That's the most important part," Addie smiled sweetly.

Wanting to touch her, to kiss her, he gave a small groan. His eyes sparkled suggestively as he murmured, "I'll make a note on the scruff and the tie but my hair will always be perfectly styled."

Addie opened her mouth but an aloof English voice shocked her into silence. "Don't mind me."

"Klaus," Damon grimaced, turning to face the hybrid. Klaus gave him a smug grin and a nod of acknowledgement towards Addie. Damon slipped a possessive arm around her waist. She could be upset with him for touching her later. It didn't matter as long as it was clear to the Original bastard that he couldn't touch Addie. Not in the mood for a fight, or entirely sober enough, he sighed, "You gonna do this in the Grill? In front of everyone? It's a little beneath you, don't you think?"

"I don't know what you are talking about. I just came down to my local pub to grab a drink," Klaus replied innocently.

"I'm surprised you stuck around town long enough for happy hour."

He shrugged nonchalantly. "My sister seems to be missing. Need to sort that out. In fact, Addison was supposed to be helping me with that but she doesn't seem to be making good on her word. I suppose I'll need to sort that out, too."

Damon growled softly, angling himself so that he was partially blocking her. " _Addie_ ," he stressed, "doesn't know anything. Besides, a cute, blonde, bombshell psycho shouldn't be too hard to find. You don't need Addie."

Klaus regarded the young vampire for a moment before turning his focus to Addie. He smiled slightly at her wary gaze. Smart girl. Matter-of-factly he explained, "Truth is I've grown to rather like your little town. Think I might fancy a home here. Oh, I imagine you're wondering how does this affect you? The answer is: not in the slightest. As long as I get what I want and everyone behaves themselves, you can go on living you little lives however you choose. You have my word."

"So-" Addie felt Damon's grip around her waist tighten in a manner that told her to shut up. Irritated, she pushed his arm away with a scowl. Indignantly she faced Klaus again. "What more do you want besides my sister's blood?"

"Well, for starters, you can tell me where I might find Stefan."

"Stefan skipped town the second he saved your ass," Damon snapped.

Klaus plucked a dart from Damon's hand. "Well, you see, that is a shame." Bullseye. "Your brother stole from me. I need him found so I can take back what's mine."

"Didn't I already tell you a ripper should be pretty damn easy to track if you're that desperate? That's a problem between you and Stefan, not the rest of us," Addie curtly reminded him.

Damon had already pulled Addie so she was behind him entirely when Klaus took a step closer. They were going to have a very serious talk about what the hell she thought she was doing.

"Consider this me broadening the scope of tracking, sweetheart," he purred, an unspoken threat stitching together every word.

Addie tried to push pass Damon as Klaus turned and walked away but he held up an arm to block her. When she went to step around him, he moved to be in her path. Huffing, she shoved at his back but he didn't move. Finally he turned back to her, his eyes dark and angry.

"Car."

"Huh?" she breathed in confusion.

"We're going to the car." His voice was much too soft.

She couldn't help but laugh, "To sit in it? You're are far drunker than I thought if you think I'm actually getting in a car with you driving it."

He took a deep breath. It wouldn't do to get mad at her so soon. He tried appealing to reason, "We have a lot of things we need to discuss. Home is the safest place to do that."

"I'll follow you."

"Given the fact that I haven't existed to you for nearly a month I'm not exactly convinced my car won't suddenly cease to exist too and you'll end up somewhere besides home."

"That's a valid concern. It's just a chance you're going to have to take." Simply not following had been a very tempting idea that had crossed her mind. She just didn't have the energy to have a row with him; all week she had barely slept because of the nightmares.

Damon rolled his eyes as he pointed out, "Even drunk my reflexes blow yours off the map. Your safest bet is to ride with me."

"No."

"Fine," he grumbled. He fished the car keys from his pocket and placed them in her hand. " _You_ drive."

Addie stared down at the little pieces of metal as if they were completely foreign to her. Confused she mumbled, "You said you'd never let me drive your car."

"I sure as hell don't _want_ you driving my car but I'm pretty damn desperate," he snorted humorlessly.

* * *

When they had arrived at the boardinghouse Damon had gone straight to the study. He'd been very grumpy, stormy and stompy and in all in a mood that suggested he wanted to talk. Addie cited his bad temper to the painfully quiet car ride. It was easier to be angry at him for being a grouch than it was to be mad at him for having a silent fit as she drove his car. That car was his love, his baby, his pride and joy. She still couldn't believe he had let her drive it.

Addie's jaw unhinged as she yawned loudly. Sitting on the couch playing the staring game for two hours was not what she had in mind. She got up and stretched. Briefly she scowled at Damon, "Whenever you're done brooding or sulking or whatever it is that you're doing and decide you want to act like a grown up and use your words just give me a holler. I can't take sitting here for another minute."

"You can't leave," he objected, suddenly breaking out of his silent daze.

"I'm not," she reassured him, gently running her fingers through his hair. He at least needed a trim. "I'm just going to walk around, go watch TV, or something. This room can only handle so much negative energy. If we're gonna start fighting it's probably wise that at least one of use be in a halfway decent mood. You're radiating tension and I need a break."

Already sensing her leaving the room he mumbled his acceptance. Damon dragged his own fingers through his dark silk locks, trying to get rid of the sensation of her. It wasn't fair that she could touch him but he couldn't touch her. It definitely wasn't fair when her touch already affected him ten times more than his did her.

She'd been heading for the livingroom when the door to the cellar caught her eye, Damon never had answered her about where Rebekah was. He'd left one daggered Original, Elijah, locked in the basement before and she'd undaggered him. Surely he wasn't stupid enough to do the same thing again. Although she never thought he would have been stupid enough to drug her.

Her ears strained for any sound of Damon moving as her hand rested on the door. When she heard none she quickly and silently slipped onto the stop stair that led down into the cellar, careful to close the door without a sound. He heart thudded in her chest as she took the stairs two at a time; he'd be furious if he found her down here. A sense of dread filled her as she noticed a familiar turn-style combination lock in addition to the regular lock on the door to the small room in the cellar.

In the viewing window she could see a desiccated body, the bright red dress and blonde curls confirming that it was Rebekah. Knowing it was futile Addie tugged at the lock in frustration. Damon had added the same extra level of "protection" to Elijah; he had just conveniently told everyone but her the combination to the lock. Elena had told her though.

Determinedly she spun the dial until the arrow passed zero twice before landing on nine. Damon had set the first number to her birth month. She twisted the lock counter clockwise until the arrow pointed at eight, her birth day. Her eyebrows pulled together as she tried to think of the last number. It wasn't the last two numbers of her birth year; the dial only went up to sixty. She tried adding together the last two digits and turning to that but the lock failed to open. She repeated the process for the two numbers she knew and tried the sum of all the numbers in her birth year to no avail.

Whining, she yanked at the lock pointlessly and stomped her foot. Why did Damon have to be such a dick? It was highly unlikely she was actually going to remove the dagger from Rebekah, making locking her away most likely completely pointless. Addie knew the Original would go after her sister upon awakening.

A distant knock from upstairs reached her ears and Addie scurried up the stairs and back into the foyer. If Damon found her down there it would be another thing he would want to add to their list of things to argue about.

Damon strolled down the hall just in time to see his girlfriend emerge from the cellar, a modest blush staining her cheeks. As he got closer he quietly demanded, "What were you doing down there?"

"Expecting company?" Inquired Addie innocently.

"No. Wha-"

It was more than a protective instinct that made him catch Addie around her waist and pull her back flush against his chest when she tugged open the door and revealed Klaus. Damon clamped the hand that wasn't pinning her to him over her mouth. He had really thought he'd been making the house safe when he put the deed in her name. She was supposed to be the one who shot down Elena's instinct to trust every vampire because she didn't trust anyone. Except _Addie_ had been the one to invite Elijah and Rebekah into the house. He was not about to let her do something beyond stupid.

"Well isn't this an interesting little domestic greeting," Klaus mocked, casually leaning against the doorframe.

"Leave," Damon growled. He swore as Addie bit hard enough at the palm of his hand to draw a little bit of blood but that wasn't enough to convince him to let her speak.

The hybrid held his hands up innocently. "I meant what I said; I mean you no harm as long as I get what I want. While Addison may be smart enough to see the reason in that, I figured you might take some further convincing. I thought we could have a drink. Admittedly I didn't expect Addison to be here. Her car wasn't outside," he said, looking over his shoulder as if to double check.

Addie struggle to break free of his grasp made Damon reposition his arm to trap hers at her side. Warningly he hissed, "We have nothing to - ah!" A sharp piercing flanked his left side. His hands moved from Addie to grip at the stake she kept driving further into him. Yanking the wood out he gasped, "What the hell, Ads?"

She gave him an innocent smile as she rolled her sleeve up and revealed the force activated stake ejector from Alaric. It had been meant as a precautionary with Klaus running around town; she'd never anticipated needing to use it on Damon. She wiped the small amount of his blood from her lips as she muttered, "You'd think you'd have learn after the first two or three times of doing of covering my mouth that I _don't_ like it."

"So you stake me?!"

"Every time I bite your hand you never seem to get the message so I decided for a more forceful approach." Addie shrugged, squashing down the guilt she felt. She was already going to have an epic fight with Damon; it was best she just pile it all together. Taking a deep breath she flatly informed Klaus, "You can't come in."

His lips twitched as he gave her a knowing look. "I gathered that from Damon's little man handling. Deed in your name?"

"Addie," Damon muttered forcefully, grabbing at her elbow, trying to pull her away from the door.

"Yes but you can come in," smiled Addie. Her teeth ground together as she tried to shake her arm free of Damon.

"Have you lost your fucking mind? Are you _that_ pissed over what I did? Have you completely forgotten the sole purpose of a safe house?" spinning her by the shoulders so he could roar in her face.

She cupped a hand over her ear, pointedly stating, "Ow. There's no need to use your outside voice when I'm two feet away and most clearly inside." Addie brushed his hands off of her and took a step back. His jaw clenched as he noticed the movement was closer to Klaus, who had stepped in the doorway. Innocently she reasoned, "I know you think the whole world revolves around you, Damon, and for once, we're going to let it. I don't think it's such a bad idea for you and Klaus to have a drink, for everyone to get on the same page, so to speak."

" _Same page?!_ You _have_ lost your damn mind, Addie!"

She looked at an invisible watch on her wrist and then back at Damon. "It's been five seconds and neither one of are dead. If Klaus wanted us dead we would have been dead four seconds ago. Actually, we would have been dead at the Grill."

"Or he's just, I don't know, biding his time? Playing with his food?"

"Now you're just being ridiculous," Addie sighed dramatically, rolling her eyes. "Klaus isn't his father and he knows he can't drink my blood."

Damon's hands dragged down his face as he tried to keep from yelling, "It's an expression! I'm not being literal! I'm not joking! I'm trying to get you to understand what you've just done!"

"I've just invited Klaus into the house."

"You sound more bothered when you talk about the weather. Clearly you don't understand the magnitude of what you've done!" he scolded.

"Huh. Well, I should probably go to timeout and reflect on that like a three-year-old who has drawn on the wall," Addie retorted sarcastically as she headed towards the study. Over her shoulder she called, "Since Klaus is already here, though, and has so politely offered to have a drink with you, I'd recommend you be a proper host and do that. Otherwise you're the one acting like a petulant child."

In the library Addie pursued the shelf of Ancient Greek texts until she found Homer's _The Odyssey_. She'd finally finished the epic poem about the Trojan war and it was time that she reread the epic tale of Ulysses twenty year struggle home. Settling into one of the large, leather chairs she curled up with the book. Barely opened to the first page she could already hear Damon entering the room. There was no way he was going to leave her anywhere alone in a house that Klaus could enter.

Oh, Damon had been _so_ right. Temporary insanity was the only explanation she had for inviting Klaus into the house. Well, there was her greater agenda that Damon definitely wasn't going to agree to and so she needed Klaus' strength but even that plan was risky. Klaus was unpredictable at best and Damon was going to be down right furious. She wasn't sure if she was more bothered that she was willing to provoke two volatile vampires or that dealing with two volatile vampires had become such a common part of her life that she didn't fear it.

As she read her book Addie could overhear Damon pouring a drink. From his words she could guess that Klaus had followed him into the room as well.

"Considering you blackmailed my girlfriend into spending the part of the summer with you nearly four months ago I'd say we're long overdue for a talk on an _understanding_."

Klaus strolled over to the fireplace and ran a finger over the mantle piece, inspecting it for dust, which there was none. "You mean ex-girlfriend, don't you? She told me about what happened in Chicago. You just couldn't be sure enough in her feelings for you to trust that she _wanted_ you even if she _chose_ to stay with me."

Addie peered over the top of the book to notice Damon tense, his tumbler of bourbon halfway to his lips. As they had agreed not to tell anyone they were back together but Damon was quite a jealous and territorial when it came to Klaus she was particularly interested in his response. His eyes seemed to flash to her for an answer but she quickly became absorbed in her reading again.

"She was my girlfriend at the time you blackmailed her. Whether we are together or not, I will _always_ remain protective of Addie," Damon responded curtly, a warning edge to his tone.

"Yes, I'm counting on that," muttered Klaus pensively.

"Leave. Her. Alone."

The Original snorted, "Did you not just get that I want you protecting her? If I intended to bother her, wouldn't I want the opposite?"

"You're one fucked up bastard; I don't figure your mind works in the most rational of ways," Damon replied matter-of-factly.

"Fair enough. I can't quite figure your mind but I know it's been quite busy with all your plotting and scheming."

Humorlessly he said, "You know me, never miss a chance to plan an epic failure."

"Oh, don't be too hard on yourself," Klaus taunted. Addie jumped when his hands clapped the back of her chair. "Who could have guessed your own ex-girlfriend, or whatever, would stop you?"

She sunk further into the chair as she felt Damon's piercing glare. "That's the funny thing about women," he retorted, trying to sound calm and casual, "you never know what they're going to do. I mean, I did have a front row seat when your sister lied to you."

The hybrid shrugged, walking around towards the young vampire. "Yeah, well, she's fickle, that one. And you say you have no idea of her whereabouts?"

Damon forced a smile as he shook his head. "You got a double whammy there; Rebekah's a younger sibling and a woman. It's a completely unpredictable combination." He filled a second tumbler with bourbon and held it out to Klaus. "Drink?"

Klaus took the glass and stroked a finger around the rim as he contemplatively remarked, "Addison falls into both those categories but I find her to be remarkably predictable."

With both men's eyes on her Addie raised her book in front of her face more. Perhaps this had been a really idea. Couldn't they go back to discussing anything but her?

"I expect you knew she was going to tell you all about my plan, then," Damon spat, tossing back his full glass of amber liquid and pouring another.

Knowingly Klaus gave him a smirk, "Of course. It was my idea."

"W-w-wh-what?" he coughed and spluttered, choking on his sip of bourbon.

Placing her book in her lap Addie sighed dramatically, "It's not how it sounds."

"Sure it is," Klaus beamed airily.

"No," she snapped, "it's not. Your idea was for me to stop Damon or let him die."

"Which was my subtle way of leading you to tell me what you knew," he said obviously. "Between the fact that you don't like Damon doing things that could get him killed and his nature to avoid letting you get involved in anything dangerous, it was highly unlikely that you knew much. However you are a nosy little thing and you had to know something.

"It's I told you to either stop Damon or that my hybrids would kill him when he killed me. However, we both know you couldn't have stopped Damon. First of all, you didn't know what the plan was that you needed to stop. Second of all, well, his stubbornness is only a match for yours.

"And you may hate me but you wouldn't let Damon die simply to get rid of me. Of course your only option was to come running to me, begging me to save Damon. Someone as smart as you knows that knowledge is power and so you told me everything you possibly knew that could help me save my own life."

Damon's glass clanked loudly against the table as he set it down, groaning, "Seriously, Ads?! You couldn't have just kept your mouth shut?"

"Oh, my. Have you two not discussed this yet?" Klaus asked in mild amusement, trying to sound shock.

She gaped at him in bewilderment, "Did you miss the part where you died if Klaus died?"

"That was _my_ call to make!"

"And that's exactly why I didn't get your opinion on the matter! Tell me your life wasn't worth Klaus' and I'll grovel and beg for your forgiveness," Addie bit back.

"It's not my life I'm worried about! It's y-"

"That's my point!" she interrupted loudly. "Why do you get to care about my life but I don't get to care about yours?"

He shook his head, taken aback by the question.

"I sold you out to Klaus because no matter what you did that night, you were going to die. He was the only one who could make sure that _Mikael_ didn't kill you when you failed to kill Klaus. And you couldn't just kill Klaus because of the hybrids. I wasn't willing to let you die because… well, I just wasn't," she explained reasonably. Turning her attention back to her book she pointedly told Klaus, "I'm sure your visit serves some other purpose besides causing a little dispute between Damon and myself. I assure you that if you want to start a much bigger argument, I'd get to your point and get to leaving as soon as possible."

Klaus swirled the contents of his glass around, his lips twitching in amusement. He'd love to know what that argument would be about. Turning his attention to Damon he informed him, "I came here to discuss your brother. My family, the Originals, I had them daggered, boxed-up awaiting the day I saw fit to wake them. And your brother went in and pinched the lot."

Damon nodded slowly and clicked his tongue in disapproval. "Of course he did. Such a buzzkill, my baby bro. Well, I'd love to find him. Just the trouble is, I sure as hell don't work for you."

The was an icy calm in his voice as he told the other man, "You know, your drink stinks of vervain," a dark shadow crossed the hybrid's face as he dumped the contents of his glass onto the floor, glaring at Damon, "so I can't compel you. There's no point in killing you because you're actually the one most likely to be of help in getting me what I need. And yet it would seem a demonstration is in order. Perhaps I wasn't clear enough when I told you to find Stefan. Well, it seems you people respond best to displays of violence. Why don't you take this as an example of my reach?"

Addie's eyes went wide as the copy of _The Odyssey_ was yanked out of her hands. Instinctively she went to inhale in surprise but a hand was clamped around her throat, cutting off her air supply to a thready stream. Her eyes bulged as she stared up into Klaus' amused steely blue ones. He gave her a wink, a smile hinting at his lips.

"No!" Damon yelled, ripping Klaus away from Addie and pinning him onto the floor.

Klaus easily pushed the other man off of him and gracefully got back up to his feet. He smirked at Damon as he pulled out his phone and messed with it. Smugly he said, "Just had to test those protective instincts. The text I sent is making my real point." He gave Addie a small smile and slight bow, "Apologies for the scare, Addison. I've said my piece, so I'll take my leave and let you two get on with that argument."

"I'll see you out," she said quickly, jumping up and ignoring the incredulous look on Damon's face.

Klaus held his hands out, motioning for her to lead the way. Addie started down the hall. The Original was light on his feet and soundless but she had grown so accustomed to Damon's steps that she could hear him following. She had hoped he'd stay in the study but there was never really any expectation of that.

"So, Rebekah," drawled Addie.

"Yes?"

"I have some information but I'm not just going to give it to you for free," she said, forcing a sense of false confidence into her voice.

Warily Klaus reminded her, "I don't like bargains."

"Then I guess you don't like information," Addie shrugged.

"I do relish the thought of killing Damon."

Suddenly stopping in her tracks, Klaus almost ran into her as she spun on her heel. She held a finger directly in his face, speaking very slowly, "Let's get this straight if you plan to 'make a home' here and want to 'work together.' As you may have notice from my tolerance with Damon, I will put up with a lot of pointless bullshit. You weren't around for the part where he was a threat to everyone I loved. I didn't put up with that guy; in fact, I shoved that guy into a burning building. You may believe you are truly immortal but if you continue to use the people I love against me to do whatever you want I _will_ find a way to destroy you. And trust me, I'm running on like two to three hours of sleep a night right now so I have _plenty_ to figure out how."

"Again, the fact that you have the nerve to talk to me like that is just fascinating," he uttered with mild interest.

"And you're just nauseating. We clear on the 'no threatening people I love' thing?"

Klaus cocked in his in consideration before shrugging. "Sure. What's the information?"

Addie shook her head. "Uh-uh. Not yet. That was just a general understanding. Before I share this particular information with you I need your reassurance that there will be no repercussions to anyone involved. Now, I don't expect you to give this out empty handed. In honest and good faith I can tell you that your sister is perfectly safe."

"Addie," Damon warned. He didn't know where she was going with her train of thought but it did not sound promising.

"You wanna make up for screwing up? Shut up," she hissed, her eyes never leaving Klaus.

He drugged her because he didn't know what else to do with her! He knew exactly what needed to be done with Rebekah. Had they not gone over all the possible options of what to do with the daggered sister? She was going to get both of them killed.

"What do you know about my sister?" demanded Klaus.

"Your word."

He glowered and snarled, "Fine."

"My sister may have daggered your sister in the back," Addie rushed out, raising her hands defensively and taking a step back.

"What?"

"Addie!"

Walking backwards through the foyer, she nodded. "Yeah. Your reaction is a hell of a lot better than mine was. Um, she's, um," Addie jerked her thumb over her shoulder towards the basement door, "down there. I'd get her for you but, see, Damon's put this lock on the door because he thinks that I'm going to undagger her and then she's gonna go all 'rawr' on Elena."

"Oh, my god! Addie!"

Ignoring the burst of rage from Damon she continued on in a light, carefree manner, "All you need to do is go down there and rip off the lock. As far as the daggering thing goes, well, you want my sister alive to make more hybrids and your sister probably wants to kill my sister. I'm just thinking it might be a good idea to let you sort all that out"

"So you've known my sister was daggered in the cellar this whole time?" Klaus challenged frostily.

"Of course not! I only found out she was in the basement right before you showed up," Addie replied proudly.

"You've just known she was daggered, of course."

She opened her mouth to protest, closed it as she thought over her word and opened it again, "I had no knowledge of what my sister was going to do. Rebekah is my friend. She's far more entertaining up and about then desiccated." For the first time Addie dared to look at Damon and felt a coil of anxiety compress inside her at the red rage on his face. Her hand ran through her hair, her confidence faltering. "Well, you know your way to the basement. The front door is right there. And I gotta get back to _The Odyssey_. Ulysses just wrecked his boat and I gotta find out if he drowns."

Addie scuttled back to the study. She knew all of Homer's works forwards and backwards; she just didn't like awkward situations. Damon had been the one to drug her because he didn't want to deal with her reaction to the Rebekah situation in the moment so he could deal with the fallout of her reaction now. As she could overhear commotion between the two men she ran her hand through her hair. It was possible that she hadn't thought this plan entirely through. Too late. Walking over to the fire she sighed deeply and gazed into it, the red and orange flames dancing over her face.

Silently Damon slipped into the room and angrily hissed, "What the hell are you doing?"

"Watching the fire," she whispered.

"You know what I mean, Addie."

She shook her head slightly and confessed, "No, I really don't. There are so many things that just happened that you could be asking about."

"I'm talking about all of it!" he exclaimed.

Her eyes narrowed as she snapped back, "Well you know I don't handle a lot of things at once very well."

"Let's start with you betraying me to Klaus."

"No," she said firmly. "I'm not going to discuss that. I made that choice to save your life. How many times have you made decisions in the name of protecting me? I let you get away with the crap 90% of the time. The one time the tables are turned and I have the opportunity to protect you, you're going to accept it."

"Ad-"

"I am _not_ arguing with you about this, Damon. You can be pissed all you want. Guess what? I'm pissed at you the majority of the time for doing things I don't like. Get over your fucking ego and suck it up," she interrupted, frustration coloring her cheeks.

His head tilted in confusion. More calmly he tried to explain, "It's not an ego thing when it comes to you. My pride can be pretty cumbersome but I can't let it interfere when you're involved. Me killing Klaus had nothing to do with my personal attitudes towards him and everything to do with the fact that he's a danger to you." As he sat on the arm of a chair Addie would have swore he pouted when he continued, "How are _you_ , out of all of us idiots, fooled into thinking he's safe?"

Softening slightly she moved to stand in front of him. Addie uncrossed his arms and took his hands in hers as she sincerely questioned, "Do you honestly think I, out of all of us idiots, would be the one fooled into thinking he's safe?"

"I would hope not but how else am I supposed to interpret you doing whatever he wants?" he scowled.

Her eyebrows knitted together as she tried to understand what he wasn't saying. "Are you _jealous_ that I listen to him and I don't listen to you?"

He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and mumbled, "Kinda."

"Oh, Damon, you really are a bit of an idiot," she giggled, pushing dark, silk locks out of his face. "Remember when I first met you, before I even knew what you were, and I asked you how to stay protected from someone like you? The night we met you were going to kill me. I may have complained about it but didn't I help you when I thought Katherine was in the tomb? Didn't I, you know, _not_ throw a massive fit when you kidnapped me for a road trip to Georgia?"

"Your point," he exhaled loudly.

"Isn't it obvious? I did what you wanted without question when I was still scared of you. Is that what you want?"

"Of course I don't want you scared of me. I just want you to listen to me. Why is that so wrong?"

Addie bit her lip, brushing her thumb over his slight pout. He truly didn't understand. For someone so experienced he could still have such a child-like view of the world. Her stomach clenched uncomfortably as she thought of how to reason with him.

"You did everything Katherine ever told you. What did you learn from that?"

He recoiled as if she'd slapped him in the face. "Addie, I would _never_ abuse your trust like that."

"You drugged me. How about we don't throw around the 't' word right now?" she replied cautiously.

"That was-"

She placed a finger over his lips and whispered, "I know. We're moving past it."

Damon quickly kissed her finger before taking her hand and desperately saying, "I don't understand where you're going with all this."

"What you had with Katherine, that wasn't real. It was blind obedience in a very twisted relationship. Do you want that from me? Or do you want me to be like Caroline and do everything you ask without question because of compulsion? That's not real either."

"I want it to be real. I want you to do what I say because you know I'm just looking out for your best interest."

Addie gave him a pain smile as she reminded him, "What about wanting me to grow up? I don't get to do that if you're making all my choices. Look, it's like why Alaric and I are both pissed at Jeremy; he's made some mistakes that have hurt him and it hurts us to see that. Alaric's approach is to lecture him into doing the right thing. Mine is to explore why he's doing such self-destructive behavior so he knows how to avoid going down the same path in the future. You have to let me make my mistake so I can learn."

"I don't see why I can't just keep you sheltered and protected from everyone, including yourself," Damon retorted nonplussed.

"Because as much as Klaus is a danger to the people I care about and to my own physical health, the protection I need from him doesn't even begin to compare to how well I need to defend myself from you," she replied, her voice soft and scared.

"From me?"

She nodded solemnly. "The only protection I have from you is what my own mind can provide and that's not much. When we were broken up… this past week… I hate who I am when things aren't right with you. I feel lost, pathetic, needy, and _weak_." Addie sighed and curled up into the chair, resting her chin on her knees. "I am completely and utterly defenseless when it comes to you," she mused aloud. "You're like this bulldozer with all you attitude and ego that my challenging of you is the only thing that keeps you from completely consuming my identity. I know you won't hear out my ideas or opinions because you think you're right so my choice is to either bend to your whim or stick by what I believe to be right and upset you."

Damon stroked Addie's hair as he looked down at her, still perched on the arm of the chair. She looked so small and troubled. Was he watching her trying to accept what he already knew?

"Make me understand this, love. What was with giving Rebekah to Klaus?"

"In relation to you or in general?"

"Both."

Leaning her head against his side Addie sighed, "Stefan's A.W.O.L. with something Klaus wants. He's not leaving here until he gets what he wants. It turns out that what he wants is his family. I don't know how we're supposed to help Klaus get the rest of his family but we had one part. Returning Rebekah showed we were willing to work with him. I've learned that working with Klaus is a lot easier than working against him. And if we are going to work against him, it helps if he's fooled into thinking we're going to help him."

"I don't like you playing games with him," Damon scowled darkly.

"I survived the summer without you, Damon. I'm defenseless against _you_ ; I still have my wits about me when it comes to Klaus," she bit back harshly.

"You're right," he murmured, rubbing her back. "I just worry about you."

She gave him a dry smile. "I knew you'd never agree to give back Rebekah. I had to tell Klaus where she was so he could just take her. He couldn't do that without being invited into the house. I never would have done that if I knew the combination lock and could have hauled her out of the house."

"Yeah," he scoffed, "you totally screwed up the purpose of a safehouse. Addie, Klaus can come in here at any time."

"Oh, yes, you are in every position to yell at me because all of _your_ plans have been so perfect," she retorted bitterly. "I was a bit hot headed and short sighted. I guess you're rubbing off on me."

"Love, you're letting the wrong parts rub on you," snickered Damon. He chuckled when she smacked him lightly in the stomach with the back of her hand. Soberly he prodded, "So, did returning her have to do with standing up to me in some way?"

Frowning, she looked up at him. "I don't know. I guess. You weren't letting me have any say in the situation involving her. She's _my_ friend. _My_ sister staked her. I should have some voice."

He nodded slowly. "I can respect that." His fingers gently stroked her cheek as he wondered, "Why do you feel so defenseless around me?"

"Because when I think of how I am with you, all I can think of is some romantic idiot in a Austen or Bronte novel. And I don't mean like at the beginning when she's all strong and independent," Addie mumbled into her knees.

"Ads, when Klaus hinted at killing me you told him you wouldn't tolerate him using the people you-"

"Shut up," she interrupted, standing up abruptly.

"Excuse me?"

As if a cornered animal Addie slowly backed away from him, shaking her head. Softly she pleaded, "Just stop talking."

"You're scared," Damon noted in surprise. "Terrified, actually."

"No," she said but the crack in her voice betrayed her lie. "I just don't want to talk anymore."

He approached her cautiously, keeping his voice gentle, "I would really like it if you would talk to me or at least tell me why you suddenly don't want to talk."

Her eyes searched around the room frantically as she bumped into the couch and found she couldn't back away any further. "Don't do this."

"Do what? Try to understand my girlfriend better?"

"Damon," she whimpered, gripping the back of the couch for support.

"Ads," he murmured. Noticing her watching him wide eyed and wary he hesitated when he reached for her. Determinedly he cupped her cheek and entreated, "My Ads."

Her eyes dropped from his but she allowed herself to press into the reassuring touch of his hand. "Stop looking at me like that."

"Like what?"

Addie shrugged bashfully. "Like you… you would… like you…."

"Like I love you," finished Damon, holding her face in both his hands and forcing her dark blue eyes to meet his. He shook his head as his lips twitched upwards. "I can't help it.

She fisted the sides of his dark olive shirt, unsure if she wanted to pull him closer or push him away. Meekly she repeated, "Damon."

"You don't have to be scared," he assured her between soft kisses to her forehead, the corners of her eyes, her cheeks.

"I do," she sighed.

"Why?" She shrugged, refusing to answer to him. His thumbs stroked her cheeks as he dipped his head to rest against her forehead. "Oh, love," Damon whispered consolingly as he felt something wet on her face. "Don't cry."

Her breath caught as her eyes slipped closed and her hands wound around his waist, wringing together at the small of his back. Just loud enough for him to hear she begged, "Then don't make me say it."

"Is it true?" he mumbled, brushing her nose with his.

"Damon."

"Addie." One hand traveled into the dark blue tresses at the back of her neck and gently tugged, tilting her face further up into his. He softly coaxed, "Talk to me. Let me in."

He felt her shiver and pull him closer as she admitted, "It's true."

His heart began to race as butterflies took flight in his stomach. It was only the despair on her face that kept him from breaking into a giddy grin. Genuinely confused he implored, "Then why can't you say it?"

"Because it's you. It's us. You drugged me. I work with your nemesis to thwart you. It's not right!"

"Yeah," he sighed as he kissed her temple, "we have our issues. We both took such extreme measures because of how we feel about each other, though. Ads, I fully believe we both do everything with the right motive, making _us_ right. What's wrong is that we don't communicate. How we feel is right. How we go about showing that to each other is sometimes questionable."

Addie scoffed, finally looking at him again, "Sometimes?"

"You stuck around to put up with my very bad temper. I… well, I'm working on being a better boyfriend," he shrugged, giving her a roguish smile.

"You make sure I don't want for anything. Definitely financially and you do your best emotionally. You bought me a car. My dream car! When I left for London you gave me a bank card with access to more money than I even want to know. But there are also the amazing times you're there for me. Like when I came back this summer. You were _really_ mad at me and we were broken up but you still let me sleep with you and held me because after everything, I just needed the safety of your occasional drugging and over controlling moments aside, Damon, you're a better boyfriend than I ever would have expected," she reassured him.

Chills ran up his spine as Addie's hands slipped under his shirt, lightly scratching at the bottom of his back. He grinned sheepishly and tentatively asked, "Really?"

Her lips brushed the corner of his mouth as she nodded. "Mhm. There had to be some explanation for why I…," she trailed off quietly, unable to finish.

"You really can't say it?" he lamented softly.

"I - you got me to finally believe in it. Isn't that enough?" Addie whispered helplessly.

Damon had to resist shaking his head. To not believing in all-consuming, everlasting, unbreakable love to accepting that that he felt that way towards her to having her return those feelings was tremendous progress that was practically unbelievable. It was just so hard to believe that he needed to hear it. He needed to know he wasn't making it all up in his mind, that he wasn't just seeing what he wanted to.

He rested his head on her shoulder and buried his face in her neck so she couldn't see the pained expression when he asked, "If it's true, if you feel that way, why can't you just say it?"

"You've already said it."

"Mhm."

"If I say it too…"

"Yeah?" he encouraged, brushing his lips against the base of her neck. He stopped as she tensed.

"It just makes it all too real," Addie sighed, resting her cheek against his head.

He frowned in confusion. "What is it now? Make believe?"

"Of course not!" she objected, holding him tighter.

"Then what do you mean?"

Uncomfortable and uncertain she whined, "Why does it matter?!"

"Because it makes it real," Damon whispered.

Cheekily she retorted, "What is it now? Make believe?"

He gently held her chin between his thumb and index finger as he forced her to look him into the eye. Damon softly confessed, "Right now it's all in my head. I _think_ I know how you feel, Ads, but I don't _know_. The only thing that I know to be real is that you are my life, my world, my everything. For the first time I'm experiencing something real and not just lust. I just want to know this isn't a one-sided thing. I love you, Addie."

Anxiety, truth, and love reflected in his bright blue eyes as Addie stared into them. Nervously she licked her lips, her mouth suddenly dry. Her voice cracking she muttered, "Damon, I -"

A loud ringing cut through the room. Damon groaned as Addie visibly exhaled in relief. Her hands still shook as she pulled her cell from her pocket.

"Jeremy's finally calling me back," Addie said quickly, sounding a bit defensive as she showed the glowing screen to Damon as proof. She shrugged apologetically as she moved away from him. "I need to warn him."

* * *

The hot spray of the shower rinsed the soapy lather from Addie's hair as the scent of cucumber melon filled the bathroom. The water pressure was awful as she had become accustomed to the glory that was Damon's three showerheads. Feeling tense after the long day made her long for the massaging effect of his shower even more. Or perhaps she just wanted Damon. The thought made her scowl as she squirted conditioner into her hand with more force than intended. She didn't like wanting or needing Damon to feel alright.

It had turned out that Jeremy hadn't been calling her back; he'd seen her message but he hadn't listen to it. As a result, he was cornered by Alaric and Elena but he only provoked them further by inviting the sired Tyler into the house. Turned out that Tyler had somehow gotten Jeremy off of vervain and at some point he was compelled by Klaus. The point the Original hybrid referred to making before he'd left the boarding house had been to get her brother to stand in the middle of the road and be plowed down by one of his hybrid minions. Kicker was that Klaus had told Jeremy to take off his ring. When he died, he'd stay dead.

Gratefully Alaric had pushed him out of the way just in time and it was he who had died. Alaric had the protection of his own ring, though. Sort of. Something had gone wrong with the ring, almost as if the magic was wearing off. It had taken all day for Alaric to come back to life and when he had, he wasn't healed. He'd woken up and almost promptly collapsed as he choked up bright red blood, his pulse weak. It turned out he had severe internal bleeding, three broken ribs, and a concussion.

The obvious solution was vampire blood but Addie couldn't get in touch with Damon. Bonnie had called Elena earlier in the day to tell her that she had gone out to the old with house in an attempt to figure out the dreams only to run into Stefan. Upon discovering Stefan's whereabouts Elena had insisted that they directly go and talk to him and force him to give Klaus his family back since since Jeremy had almost been killed. Addie decided to let Damon and her sister go on that little adventure alone because she wasn't sure she wanted to face Stefan. Either he'd save Klaus in exchange for his freedom, which meant that he kinda had betrayed Damon, even if she had proposed using him to Klaus or he saved Damon because his humanity was back on, in which case she felt kind of guilty that she was willing to let him stay trapped as a slave to Klaus in exchange for Damon.

Elena had come back from the outing, her mission unaccomplished, but Addie hadn't heard from Damon and she kept getting his voicemail when she tried calling him about Alaric. She wasn't sure whether that was a good sign or a bad sign. With time being of the essence, Elena decided that they needed to take Alaric to the emergency room.

It was a swell idea until the hybrid who ran him over showed up and compelled away the paramedics. They didn't stand a chance in getting around him to try and take Alaric to the hospital themselves. Klaus' minion offered to heal him in exchange for being invited into the house. Before the sisters had time to consider the deal the hybrid was sprawled on the front porch, an arrow sticking out of his back. Jeremy had managed to graze his heart with the crossbow but that wasn't enough to kill him. Of all the awful and horrible things she had witnessed Stefan and Klaus do to their victims and all the times she'd seen Damon covered in blood, Addie always managed to fight the nausea that hit her. But watching her big brother take off someone's head with a meat cleaver had made her violently ill. Her arms wrapped protectively around herself at the memory, shivering despite the hot water.

They heard from Damon about five minutes after Alaric had been admitted into the E.R. The last Addie had heard he was on his way to the hospital to patch Alaric up and then he would come by the house to take care of the corpse. Addie had at least managed to get it to the side of the house while Jeremy took Alaric to the hospital. So instead of explaining a body at the front door they'd just have to explain the huge pool of blood if any of the neighbors asked. She touched the dead body; Elena got to clean the porch.

As the water started to cool Addie decided to get out of the shower. She wrapped a large, fluffy towel around herself and another around her dripping hair. Back in her bedroom she was surprised to find Damon stretched out across her bed.

"Finally!" he sighed dramatically as he sat up. "I've been waiting for nearly two hours. I was starting to think you drowned."

"No, I was just thinking," she uttered, self-consciously adjusting her towel. She hadn't been expecting him. Quietly she moved over to her dresser to pull out her pajamas.

"I already picked something out," Damon informed her, pointing to the pile of neatly folded clothes on the opposite end of the dresser.

Looking between him and the clothes Addie frowned, "I'm a big girl; I can pick out my own clothes."

Damon nodded his head in acknowledgment. "I know. As much as the possessive part of me finds you in my shirts and boxers really hot, I just figured, I don't know, a little change might be nice since you're not sleeping at my place," he shrugged innocently.

She raised her eyebrows at him as she held up the bright red camisole he'd selected by the strap. Knowingly she retorted, "Or you just want to stare at my breast."

"No," he objected with a sly grin, "I just happen to really like you in red. It's not my fault that's the only red shirt you had."

"Whatever, Salvatore," Addie scoffed, rolling her eyes. She took the rest of the clothes and went back into the bathroom to change. Quickly she blasted her hair with the blow dryer until it was just barely damp. When she went back into her room she found Damon's bright blue eyes lingering on her chest. Shaking her head Addie crossed her arms and lightly chastised, "Damon!"

It was just so easy to get a rise out of her. He snickered, "Ads, love, you, uh, only encourage the looking with the," he mimicked crossing his crossing his own arms. "It _boost_ and accentuates your features."

"Damon!" she whined, uncrossing her arms and poutily stomping one foot.

"I'm just screwing with you," he laughed.

Grabbing a pillow Addie smacked him with it and complained, "Well, stop it. You're not funny."

"I'm hilarious," he smirked, snatching the pillow from her. His grin faltered as he noticed her stiffen as he rested his hand on her waist.

"Hilarious looking," she retorted, sticking her tongue out at him as she moved to sit on the bed.

He eyed her challengingly and seriously said, "We both know that not true."

"Don't you ever get tired of carrying around that huge ass ego?" Addie asked curiously.

Damon shook his head, his eyes sparkling. "No, superhuman strength makes it seem as light as a feather."

"I figured there had to be some supernatural explanation," she grinned, playfully pushing at his thigh with her foot. "So, what's up? Why have you been waiting nearly two hours?"

Pulling her foot into his lap he began to gently knead it. "You just saw your brother chop off someone's head," he said as if it explained everything.

"And you just saw your brother after he went postal and stole from Klaus," Addie repeated in the same tone. Frowning she shook her head in confusion. "I don't get what we're doing. Are we just pointing out facts?"

"I'm here to make sure you're ok, Addie."

"Oh," she muttered, suddenly very interested in her fingernails. "Well, I'm not the one who chopped off someone's head so," she shrugged, leaving her sentence unfinished.

"Your brother is going to be fine," Damon promised. "He's going to go to Denver for awhile. Once w-"

"What?" Addie blurted in confusion.

He licked his lips anxiously. Hadn't he decided he was going to let Elena tell Addie what he'd done? It was _her_ idea. Reluctantly he replied, "Well, I'm sure you've heard his plan of you guys just packing up and going."

She shook her head insistently. "It's not a plan. It's a pointless, idealistic wish we both have. It doesn't mean anything. We both know we can't just move away from the Klaus problem."

The aching in his chest that had been present while she was in the shower returned but he tried to shut it out; he didn't want to dwell on what it or her words meant. He continued hesitantly, "Or it does mean something. The Klaus problem isn't a Gilbert problem; it's an Elena problem."

"Jeremy wouldn't just move and leave her to deal with him on her own," Addie snapped. "And as much as I may not like my sister, I wouldn't do that to her either."

"No, neither of you would," agreed Damon. "That doesn't mean Elena thinks it's fair that you guys have to give up a normal life just because of her."

She snorted bitterly, "Huh. Pretty damn sure I told her it wasn't fair about a year ago and she didn't really give a damn and chose to keep playing with vampires."

"People can change a lot in a year. We both have."

Addie scowled at him. She didn't particularly like him being right on this point; it almost bordered on being defensive of Elena. She huffed and refocused, "Elena. Jeremy. Denver. Connect the dots."

"Your brother just beheaded a monster. He cheated on his witch girlfriend with his dead, ghost, vampire ex-girlfriend," Damon rationalized, building up his defense. "His life here isn't normal. He was almost _killed_ because my brother suddenly has an itch to be devious and diabolical. Jeremy isn't safe here. You know he'd never willingly agree to leave but…."

"Oh, my god," Addie gasped in horrified realization. "You didn't!"

"He's going to have a better life," he stressed.

She shook her head, looking at him completely appalled. "You don't know that! You don't get to decide that! What - _Why_ the hell do you think you have the right to take away someone's free will? You did the same thing when you compelled me to take control of my life!"

"And your life got better!"

"I was a smartass with a _vampire_. I befriended the most lethal vampire I knew. I made a deal to work with Katherine! I think you're confusing 'getting better' with 'becoming reckless and stupid,'" she cried in exasperation.

Damon sighed, running his hand through his hair. Compelling her was a touchy subject and she was already upset enough. He tried to keep the attention on his current actions. "Look, that's over and done with. Jeremy is the situation now. I know he'll have a better life because I made that part of the compulsion, Addie. He's going to stay with some nice family friends in Denver. He's gonna be at a new school. He'll meet new, living girls/ He's going to drink a few beers, take an art class. Jeremy is going to do whatever he wants. He's going to leave Mystic Falls behind and never think twice about it. He's going to be safe. He's going to be happy. Isn't that what you want for your brother?"

Addie's eyes narrowed at his trick question. Of course she wanted Jeremy to be safe and happy. And it was obvious that he currently was neither. Instead of answering she deflected, "If Elena is doing this for Jeremy, because it's not fair for him to not have a normal life, why isn't she doing it for me?"

"She is. Well, she wants to. And now she's pissed at me because I refuse to compel you away, too," he shrugged, rolling his eyes.

Her hand traveled through her hair as she wondered aloud, "Jeremy's going to be safe and happy. Are you not compelling me because you literally can't or you wouldn't even if you could?"

"I know how I'm supposed to answer that."

"What does that mean?"

"It means I've been asking myself the same question. I know you'd never want me to compel you again so it's something I shouldn't consider. Thing is, I love you and all I want is for you to be safe and happy, even if it means you hate me. That part of me says maybe compelling you and getting you far away from Klaus is the best thing, especially since he has some weird interest in you and you agree to play his stupid games and yet you talk back to him and you're probably going to get yourself killed. Then there's the part of me that is a really selfish bastard with a really big ego and thinks that I am perfectly capable of keeping you both safe and happy because that is what will keep me happy. The selfish bastard has the bonus of keeping your respect." Damon shook his head, dropping it into his hands. "Truth is I don't know what I'd do."

Addie frowned, crossing her arms. "At least you're honest about."

His brows furrowed as he looked at her baffled. "Of course I'm honest with you. Ads, I'm always honest with you."

"Except when you drug me."

"Yeah," he muttered. "Did I lose so much of your trust that it really surprises you that I would tell you the truth, even if I know you won't like it?"

"I don't think so," she said uncertainly. "I mean, I've come to always expect the truth from you."

"I really screwed up."

"Mmm…. What'd you mean about Stefan being devious and diabolical?" Addie recalled after a minute.

Damon groaned loudly. "How about instead of discussing Stefan I just do this?" he suggested as he took her other foot and began massaging it like he had the first one.

"While that is nice," she muttered contently, "we did discuss my brother so I think a little quid pro quo is in order. Jeremy just chopped off some hybrid's head. Stefan actually stole Klaus' family and is the indirect reason why Jeremy did what he did. Really, your brother is much more discussion worthy."

He eyed her wryly but she didn't back down. "Fine," he grumbled. "My brother is a dick!"

"Must be a genetic thing."

"I'm serious," he pouted. "I've been wondering how Klaus got Stefan to save him. Turns out that all Klaus had to do was guarantee Stefan his freedom. That's almost as bad as what you did! If Stefan would have just let me carry out my plan, he would have had his freedom!"

With the foot he wasn't rubbing Addie gently prodded his thigh, trying to get his attention as opposed to watching him glare at himself in the mirror over her dresser. "We've discussed this, Damon. He screwed you over because the entire point of the plan for him was to gain his freedom from Klaus. Saving Klaus _guaranteed_ that. Stefan had no control over you and your plan to kill Klaus; there was no guarantee that it would work and he'd be free. Then Klaus offered him a way to be sure he got his freedom. Stefan wanted his freedom more than he wanted to kill Klaus."

"Yeah, I know, Addie. I've accepted that," Damon insisted irritably. "That doesn't change the fact that he's a dick."

"What's his plan?"

He scoffed, looking helplessly up at the ceiling, "That's half the problem. He has no plan! He says Klaus' family is the one weakness he can use against the bastard but to use against him to do what?! Stefan doesn't know."

"Since he has no plan I don't suppose he would just-"

"He's not going to give the coffins back, Addie. Elena already tried asking for that," he interjected. Giving Klaus what he wanted wasn't a bright idea. Letting the bully win just increased their sense of power. "My brother, he's sort of running his own show right now. He's hiding in a haunted house, for Christ's sake!"

"So what is he doing with the coffins?"

"Hiding them."

Addie snorted, "You know, I think Klaus can follow Stefan to the house."

"Klaus won't find them," Damon said stiffly. He really didn't want to lie to Addie but he didn't know if he wanted to tell her the truth.

"Well, where is he hiding them?"

"Somewhere safe."

"How do you know it's safe? I mean, if Stefan is kinda off balanced can you really trust his judgement on what's a safe place?" she pressed.

He licked his lips. "I trust my judgement."

"So where are they?"

"Why does it matter?" he asked bristling.

Addie tilted her head at him as she began to understand. "Why don't you want to tell me?" she demanded.

Inhaling sharply Damon confessed, "Because I'm not the only one who's lost some trust. After what you did with Rebekah I don't trust you not to lead Klaus to everyone else."

She pulled her feet from his lap as she brought her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs. Her lips pressed into a hard, thin line as she stared blankly at him. She couldn't quite work out how she had broken his trust. He was the one who hadn't told her where Rebekah was.

"I didn't mean that how it sounded," he sighed. Damon reached for her hand but stopped, his heart and hand falling when she shook her head.

"You don't think we should give the coffins back?" she mumbled.

After careful consideration he answered, "I think we don't need any more Originals running free,."

"Jeremy almost died because Klaus wants them back."

"I'll protect you," he reassured.

Addie's lips turned down at this. "I know you will. I'm not worried about me. I'm worried about everyone I care about. What are you going to do about them? Compel half the town to Denver?"

"You were right when you threatened him. Klaus doesn't just get to live forever. There has to be another way to kill him"

"That's your plan?! Keep his family as ransom while you look for a way to kill him, which may or may not exist?"

He shrugged. "I still have to work out the finer details."

"This is so screwed up," Addie mumbled, resting her forehead on her knees.

"You've had a long day and it's late. You should go to sleep," he said, going towards the door.

"Will you stay?" she asked so softly he wasn't sure he heard her correctly. Addie avoided looking at him as she snuggled down into her blankets and curled her arm around her pillow. "Just until I fall asleep at least."

"Yeah, of course," he nodded, flipping the light switch and sending the room into darkness. Awkwardly he sat down in her desk chair.

"What are you doing?"

"Well, you don't really want me touching you so I'm giving you space."

Rolling her eyes Addie grumbled, "Just get in the bed, Damon. It's far creepier with you just sitting there, lurking in the dark."

Damon snorted as he slipped off his shoes, "I'm not lurking."

"You were sitting in the corner of my room, watching me from the dark shadows. What would you call that?" she giggled as he laid down next to her, a respectable distance between them.

Defensively he countered, "You wanted me to stay."

"And you interpret that to mean I want you to lurk in the corner?"

"I was trying to be respectful. You know, I can still leave," he finished suggestively.

"No," Addie objected quickly. Trying to appear cool she added, "Just shut up. You're preventing me from sleeping."

* * *

 _His laugh was mirthless as he killed, the blood splattering on the concrete slabs at her feet. Around his mouth the skin is stained red and up to his elbows he's painted red with fresh blood. The woman takes her last shuddering, shallow breath with a choking gurgle mixed with the blood filling her lungs and dies. She presses herself harder against the rough brick wall as he grins at her savagely. She doesn't get why he's_ playing _with his food, why he's torturing his victims and making them suffer. He drops the body to the ground with a soft thud, leaving it next to the other heap of flesh. Instead of tearing through that one's chest cavity he had ripped his arms off._

" _Don't look at me all haughty and outraged," he scolds her a giddy smile playing at his lips. "Don't be so mean, Addison. Have a heart."_

 _And she catching the object hurtling towards her face. It's warm and slippery. Her hand is coated in some sticky substance. Almost dropping it she instinctively her grip tightens. At first the object bends under touch then it's tough and resisting. Horror rips through her as she unfurls her hand to reveal what he has thrown at her. She swears the woman's heart pulses in her palm._

"Ads! Ads! Addie!" Damon called to her, his volume gradually increasing as he tried to shake her awake. She was already tossing and thrashing so much that his moving her wasn't even registering with her subconscious. "Wake up!"

Startled awake Addie inhaled sharply, at least she tried to but found herself choking on the air. She gasped, trying to find her breath as she noticed her heart racing in the familiar way she associated with fear and panic. Remembering her dream she held up her hands, inspecting them for blood. A sob racked through her as she realized they were clean.

"Hey," Damon whispered soothingly. He took one of her hands in his, giving it a reassuring squeeze. The thumb of his other hand wiped away the steady stream of tears falling. His lips turned up sympathetically as she looked at him in confusion. "You were having a nightmare."

No shit she'd had a nightmare. Wasn't that obvious? Why was he still in her bed? He was just supposed to stay until she fell asleep. The point of that was to trick herself into believing that he was with her while she slept because she didn't have nightmares when she slept with him. But he actually was with her and she'd still had a nightmare; that didn't make sense. Something was wrong.

Over heated, Addie kicked at the blanket until it gathered around her hips. That was interesting; sleeping with Damon usually kept her cool. Addie eyed him wearily, trying to make it all add up. When she realized he was still on top of the blankets the pieces fell into place. Her hands wound around his neck, pulling him closer while she simultaneously scolded herself for being so pathetic. Just sharing a bed with Damon wasn't enough to keep away the nightmares; apparently she had to be clinging to him like a needy koala.

"It's ok," he murmured, rolling onto his side and taking her with him. Addie rested her face next to his, sharing his pillow. Damon felt her trying to press herself closer to him. He saw the fear in her eyes and repeated, "It's ok. It was just a bad dream, Addie."

It was more than a dream; it was a memory. She shuddered and kicked the blankets off the rest of the way so she could tangle her legs with Damon. Increasing contact with him was proving to have a direct correlation with making her feel better.

Trying to lighten the mood he cheekily grinned, "Guess whatever part of you questioned me touching you is over that little trust issue."

In the moment. Addie wasn't sure how'd she feel when her heartbeat slowed back down. She was still shaken from the nightmare. Her lips brushed against his ever so slightly and she felt tinge better. It made logical sense to her that more of a proper kiss meant more of feeling better so that is what she did.

Breaking away Damon gave a whiny, unsatisfied moan. His fingers trailed along her jaw as he sighed, "I can't. Addie, I have really missed holding you and kissing you, believe me. I can't, though, not if it's just because you're upset."

"Since when do you care?" she challenged, her voice hoarse and weak.

"Since it's you! I'm not going to take advantage of you, Ads."

Her eyes narrowed at him as she pouted, "Upright, moral you can be as annoying as dick you. At least dick you is amusing."

"Trust me, I know the dick me is more amusing. I have a lot more fun being that guy," Damon remarked dryly.

"So can't you just be that guy?" Addie mumbled, moving in to kiss him again.

After a chaste meeting of the lips he pulled away again. "There are just times when I _can't_ be that guy because I love you and I only want to do right by you," he explained.

"Ok," she said slowly. Purposefully she ran her hands through his hair, her nails gently scraping his scalp. A sense of smugness briefly lit up inside her as his eyes fluttered close. Reasonably she questioned, "Are you _really_ being that guy if what I want is to simply kiss you?"

"I know what you're doing, Addison."

"Are you really so proud that you have to hear me beg to makeout with you?" challenged Addie, deciding to change her tactic.

"It's - It's not a pride thing," he stammered, disarmed by the accusation. "It's a - a respect thing. You're upset."

"Yes and being with you, touching you is easing the cold, dead feeling that nightmare left me with. Is it really so awful that I just want my boyfriend to kiss the fear and pain away?" Perhaps the truth was just the best strategy. With a little white lie to help convince him. "I'm not trying to avoid some deep emotional problems with physical contact; I'm just trying to get over a bad dream."

His lips brushed her forehead, her temple, her cheek, the corner of her mouth. "No," he murmured, " it's not awful at all. I didn't consider it that way. I'm sorry."

"There's a very easy way for you to make amends," Addie smirked as she continued to play with his hair.

Damon smiled slightly, bowing his head towards her. It felt like the lightest of shocks as he let his lips ghost by hers. He made to pull back she encouraged him closer. She pressed her lips to his insistently. Slowly his moved and molded with her. He slipped his hand from her cheek, down her neck, gliding along the silky skin all across her shoulder that his shirts usually cover.

He grinned, resting his forehead against hers, "Am I on the right path?"

"Getting there," she whispered. It hadn't occurred to her that she had been clenching nearly every muscle since she had woken up until she had started to feel herself relaxing under his touch.

Keeping it slow and lazy Damon kissed her again but this time he deepened it Traces of her cinnamon toothpaste were still detectable. She gave a content sigh as he softly nibbled at her lower lip.

When she began working at the buttons of his shirt he stopped exploring rarely exposed skin to travel up her arm and capture her hands. He broke away, looking at her with complete love and adoration. He shook his head and gently whispered, "Not tonight."

His eyebrows arched in surprise as Addie gave him a full blown pout with the jutted bottom lip and pleading eyes. It was a genuine, sulky pout; he'd only ever seen her do that sarcastically before. His lips twitched as he fought against a smile. "While you are highly adorable, still no. I will cuddle and kiss you until you're walking on sunshine but things aren't getting… _heated_."

"I'm not trying to turn this into a grope fest," she scowled. "I just… we've had this discussion: guys are fascinated by boobs and I… enjoy your chest for it's lack of breasts, great definition and your finely sculpted abs."

"Well, flattery will get you so far," he conceded, moving to undo his shirt. When Addie tried to help him he shook his head and brushed her away. "Nuh-uh. You undressing me almost always leads to more."

She reached for the blanket at the foot of the bed as he shrugged out of his shirt. Pulling it up around both of them she asked, "Will you stay the rest of the night? Once I go back to sleep? Until morning?"

"Of course, love. That dream shook you up pretty bad, huh?" Damon noted rhetorically as he wrapped his arms around her, letting her bury her face in his chest.

"It wasn't a dream. You, you keep the nightmares, the memories away," Addie admitted quietly. Wrapped up in his big, strong arms it was safe to whisper the truth.

He tensed. His voice a pitch higher than usual as he repeated, "Memory?"

She sighed and gently pushed him onto his back so she could rest her head on his shoulder. Dismissively she said, "I told you I had seen some shit with your brother and Klaus this summer,"

"Yeah but -"

"It's not a big deal, Damon. I don't want to discuss it."

"Do you not know that you scream and bawl during your nightmares? I'm not inside your head but I know what I saw and heard both while you were asleep and after you woke up. You have to be going through hell. That's a big deal," he reprimanded. "You need to talk about this."

Her glare was hard and icy as she looked up at him. "No, I don't."

"Do you have them every night?"

"No."

"Are you lying?"

"No."

"Why do I think you're not telling me the truth?"

Addie looked away from him and mumbled, "I didn't have them until a few weeks ago. I didn't have them when I was sleeping with you. I started having them every night when I started staying at home."

Damon was quiet for a long time as he absorbed that information. "I'm not sure how to react to that," he finally decided. "Part of me is mad at myself because in addition to everything else I fucked up when I drugged you, I'm now responsible for this. You've been having these nightmares because you are uncomfortable sleeping with me. Part of me is upset with you for putting yourself through this every night when you knew exactly how to avoid it. Part of me is just glad I can help and happy to know I can be such a source of comfort for you."

"Good to know you're so conflicted over _my_ problem, Damon. Don't worry your pretty little head about it," she muttered.

"Your problems _are_ my problems, Ads. I love you. I worry about you. I mean, how are you going to deal with this."

She leaned up, resting her hand on his cheek. "I appreciate your concern, I really do, Damon. But, I have tonight figured out. Let's just go to sleep. Ask me about tomorrow night when it's a little closer."

"That's not a long term solution," he frowned.

"No but it works for now and that's all I really care about at," she glanced at the clock, "a quarter to three in the morning."

"Fine. For now," conceded Damon.

Addie gave him a small smile before returning her head to his shoulder. She felt herself completely relax once she entangled her legs with his, draped her arm across his chest and felt him hold her close, one hand on the small of her back and the other on her hip. As Damon's chest rose, Addie inhaled, matching her breathing to his.

* * *

 **A/N: Yay! They're sort of not so much fighting! Thank you again to everyone who favorites, follows, and especially everyone who reviews. Times have been crazy and I haven't really had time to get back to those but I appreciate them so much.**


	13. Chapter 12

When Addie awoke before the alarm the following morning, Damon was wrapped around her like ivy, his head on her chest, his arm around her waist, and his leg between her. Odd how their positions had become reverse during the night but he had kept away the nightmares. Actually, in his arms was the first time she had been able to fall back to sleep after one of the dreams. Gently, she stroked his soft hair as the grogginess of sleep faded.

Glancing at her clock, Addie softly exhaled as she debated on what she wanted to do before getting ready for school in an hour. Asleep Damon looked so young and harmless. Holding him and getting some more shut wasn't a bad idea. There was something about the light of day and the safety that came with it that made her slightly uncomfortable with his touch, though. Addie pulled her pillow out from under her and shoved it over her face. She was being stupid. Damon had made a mistake when he'd drugged her. He had _never_ meant for her to get sick; he hated seeing her suffer. Wasn't last night proof of that? Damon would never touch her in any way that she didn't want him to. Frankly, he wouldn't touch her in ways she wanted him to a lot of the time.

 _Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me._

The pillow muffled her frustrated groan. She wished her harpy, judgemental subconscious would just go back into hibernation mode. It felt nice being able to completely trust Damon; he was _safe_. Addie and her personified subconscious both rolled their eyes. Safe was not a word to be associated with Damon Salvatore but he did have her back. He wouldn't hurt her. But he had and that made her skin crawl. She moved the pillow from her face and looked down at Damon's tumbled hair. How was she going to get up without waking him? The tug on the charms of her bellybutton ring made her jump.

"Isn't it a bit early to be thinking so hard?" Damon murmured as he kissed along the top of her camisole.

"I'm not," she breathed quietly as he rested his head back on her chest, his five o'clock shadow tickling just over her heart.

She could feel his teasing hum reverberate through her. "Liar. Your heart is beating faster than usual. And," his cool hand slid over the smooth skin of her stomach and slightly nudged down the hem of her shorts to rub at her bare waist, "you're tense."

The shiver he invoked was one not one she enjoyed. Quickly deciding, Addie pushed at his shoulders and fought to sit up as she declared, "I'm going for a run."

"What's wrong?" he asked, eyeing her with sleepy, wary eyes.

"Well, coach has been riding my ass since I've been missing practice. My 5k times have been just under 18 minutes, which is not good. So, I'm going for a run because I don't feel like having my ass yelled at during practice," she half confessed as she got out of bed.

"That might be true but that's not the truth," Damon said pointedly, trying not to get frustrated. "What's wrong?"

Through the mirror over her dresser she glared at him. Damn him for knowing her so well. As she pulled out an old shirt and a pair of track shorts she snapped, "I need to clear my head. Happy?"

He gave her a false grin and demanded, "No. What's bothering you?"

"You," she admitted sharply, going back into the bathroom to change. Quickly she switched clothes and went through the methodical routine of brushing her teeth. A few strokes of her brush, a scrunchie and her hair was swept back into a ponytail.

"Wanna tell me what I did now?" snickered Damon as he heard the door to the room open again.

"Not particularly," Addie mumbled as pulled out a pair of socks.

Pushing his fingers through his hair he sighed, "That probably just means it's even more important that we talk about it."

She frowned as she tugged on a trainer. "You really want to discuss the fact that I _didn't_ feel comfortable waking up next to you?"

Damon faltered as he tried to button up his shirt. No, he didn't want to discuss that. Profusely he apologized, "Ads, I'm so, so sorry. I never meant to -"

"I know," she interrupted, standing up. "I wanted you to stay, Damon. I asked you to. After the nightmare, that was the best sleep I've gotten since I last slept with you. I just… waking up…. Look, Elena and Alaric are probably up training. I'd rather not face the Spanish Inquisition so if you wouldn't mind," she waved generally in the direction of her window.

"Seriously? You are seriously telling me to use to window?"

Tartly she retorted, "If I remember correctly, you're quite fond of my window."

"To get in!"

"Oh, so, only when it's convenient for you and not me?"

Studying her carefully a crease formed between his eyebrows as he frowned. "Are you looking for a reason to fight?"

"No," Addie insisted as she grabbed her iPod off the charger and shoved it into an armband. "I just need some -"

"Don't you dare say space," Damon growled.

"Space."

He threw his hands up and ran them through his hair in frustration. "Ads, I gave you _weeks_ of space and it nearly killed me. You can't say the distance was really good for you, either. The nightmares started when you insisted upon this 'space' and they are going to keep happening as long as you keep it up."

"That's my problem, not yours," she muttered darkly as she shuffled around the books and stacks of papers on her desk. Why could she never find her earbuds when she most needed to?

" _Our_ problem! You think I'm going to sleep knowing that you're not?"

Addie rolled her eyes in annoyance as she moved over to search on top of her dresser. To herself she mumbled, "I think you should just shut up."

Moving quickly, Damon rested his hands on either side of her, careful not to touch her but still trapping her between him and the dresser. Through the mirror he met her startled blue eyes. "Be honest," he said gently, "are you doing this because not wanting me to touch you makes more sense if you're angry at me?"

"Does it really matter?" she asked straightening up.

From a single finger he dangled the bright blue cord to her headphones in front of her face tauntingly. "Yes, it does matter. Last night you were scared and vulnerable and you wanted _me_. In your most defenseless state you clung to me, Addie." He yanked the cord away before she could snatching it from him as she scowled at him in the mirror. "Not just yet. You want me near you when you're weak. But now you're back to being you and you're wound so freaking tight that your defense mechanism is in overdrive and some small part of you actually thinks I might hurt you. When you're weak you seek protection. When you've managed to stake me _three_ times you think you need protection. Don't you get how backwards that is?"

He let her take the headphones and she concentrated on plugging them into her iPod. Addie snorted as she slipped the running band onto her arm, "You're really going to try make sense of the functioning of my brain?"

"I'm not stupid enough to embark on that endeavour alone." He paused and considered, "Or I'm not smart enough to do that. When it comes to understanding you I'm not really sure if intelligence is a factor or if making sense of Addie logic is a game of luck."

"It's a game of common sense."

"That's exactly the problem," Damon laughed. "You're not functioning on a level of common sense. You're doing the exact opposite."

Addie turned between the hands he had pinned against the desk so that she was facing him. "Move."

"Kiss me."

Pushing at his shoulders she huffed, "I'm being serious."

"So am I. Kiss me and I'll move. I'll leave," he offered.

"Promise?"

He nodded and Addie reluctantly gave in. Pushing herself up on her toes, she chastely kissed him. At least she tried. Damon's hands moved from the dresser cradle the nape of her neck and gently hold her chin, keeping her to him. When Addie gasped with surprise he sneaked his tongue into her mouth, sensually stroking and exploring. He grinned when she stopped pushing his shoulders and instead used them to balance herself. His hand slid to her hip, gently pushing her back down as Damon bowed his head. A groan caught in his throat as her teeth skimmed over his lower lip repeatedly and her fingers curled into his hair.

"Move," Addie whispered with a smirk as she pulled away.

His lip jutted out in a pout. "Tease."

"You promised to move," she pouted back.

"Nothing? You still don't want me touching you?" he frowned in confusion. He thought if he could just remind her, just convince her that he wouldn't hurt her then everything would be fixed.

Addie shook her head; she needed to think about that. "What I want is to go on my run. Really, Damon, please move."

* * *

Addie glared at the tape as she folded it over so it would stick to both the purple banner with "Happy Birthday" written in glittery pink and the locker. On her run inspiration had struck and she was compiling a list of reasons why she should just get Damon to compel Jeremy to stay in Mystic Falls and send Elena off to live with family friends in Denver. Elena not telling Addie about Jeremy and acting if everything was normal that morning was tied with sticking Addie on locker decoration duty for Caroline's birthday. Her artistic creativity skills were limited to those coloring pages they gave kids were everywhere there was a "1" you had to color blue and everywhere there was a "2" had to be red and so on. Artistic design was a skill her brother and sister had inherited; art class had been the only class she was use to getting a B in.

"Hey!" Bonnie called cheerily as she approached, carrying a large, creative poster board saying "Happy 18th Birthday, Caroline!"

Smacking the two tapped ends of the cut piece of ribbon to the top of the birthday girl's locker Addie grumbled, "You're late."

"I know, I'm sorry. I, uh, I got held up," apologized Bonnie, giving her a small smile.

"Yeah, well, you and my sister wanted to do this so here," Addie picked up the small box of decorating supplied off the floor and shoved it into the other girl's hand as she took the poster from her, "let's switch."

"Fair enough," nodded the witch. Something told her not to mention how crooked the banners Addie had tacked on were. "Why are you in such a bad mood?"

Addie laughed wearily. "You mean a morning filled with Damon, my sister, and arts and crafts isn't a good enough reason? I take it _you_ haven't talked to my sister if you're not in a bad mood?"

"No. What did she do?"

"Jeremy's going to be staying with some family friends in Denver for awhile."

Bonnie raised her eyebrows at Addie and slowly said, "Jeremy wouldn't just leave you and Elena to deal with Klaus on your own."

"Yeah, no, I know, that's exactly what I said," Addie nodded. Her smile was too broad and her voice too sweet as she continued, "My wonderful sister asked Damon to compel him and being the wonderful person that he is, Damon said yes."

"She what?"

"She hasn't even told me what she's done!" she snapped angrily. "The only reason I know is because Damon told me. She tried to get him to compel _me_ out of town too!"

The witch's face scrunched up in disgust. "At least he has the decency not to compel you."

"Oh, it's Damon! He's too _selfish._ He's not that noble," hissed Addie.

"In general, no. When it comes to you, where you're concerned, Damon's a decent guy. At least, his heart is in the right place," defended Bonnie.

Her dark blue eyes narrowed suspiciously, "Since when are you pro-Damon?"

Bonnie shrugged guiltily. "You were right about me being biased against him. I've thought about that. You guys may have had a fight, a pretty bad one, but, I don't know. Maybe you shouldn't completely shut him out of your life. As your friend, I will honestly tell you that you seemed happier when you were with him."

"You seemed happier when you were with my brother; I'd never tell you to go back to him," Addie pointed out.

"I doubt Damon cheated on you; he's not that stupid."

Sighing, she leaned against the locker next to Caroline's as she watched Bonnie attach curly pink ribbons. "He's not that kind of stupid but he may be stupider. I don't know."

"He'd do anything for you," countered Bonnie.

"Couldn't that be a bad thing?"

Bonnie gave her an incredulous look. "Sweetie, you're worry about having an overly devoted guy while the rest of us worry about getting one that can be half that passionate. If you seriously got into a fight with him about how much he cares about you, you guys _really_ don't understand how a relationship work."

"We don't!" Addie scoffed. "I have no experience and his experience is Katherine and compelled flings."

"Yeah, that's a pretty bad combination. Just consider talking over whatever you guys got into a fight about. You guys are - you're good together," encouraged Bonnie.

She nodded. "Only if you talk to my brother. I know you two haven't really worked out your issues either. I think he was packing this morning so I don't know how much of a chance you have."

* * *

The baby pink wrapping paper crinkled loudly as Addie snugly wrapped it around the square jewelry box. One weekend Rebekah and she had flown to France and in a little boutique Addie had found the perfect birthday present for Caroline, a hand-chiseled, heart-shaped opal pendant on a white gold chain with matching studs. The girl loved jewelry, hearts, and her birthstone because it represented everyone's favorite day of the year, her birthday. She wasn't going to tell her the necklace and earrings were from France, though; she hadn't brought back everyone such nice gifts and didn't want to feel guilty about it. In fact, it was probably best if she gave Caroline her present in private.

Her hand jerked as Addie jumped at the knocking on the door. She hissed as the paper ran between her thumb and index finger. At the door she snapped, "What?"

"Let me in, Ads," whined Damon from the other side.

"Or what?" she retorted with a smirk.

"Or I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow this door in."

Addie giggled as she moved to open the door. Her features morphed into a critical frown as she looked at him. "The big bad wolf? Really?"

"No," he sneered sardonically and corrected, "the big bad vampire."

She rolled her eyes as she ushered him into the room and quipped, "I'm shaking in my boots." Simultaneously they looked down at her bright aqua Converse.

"Well, shaking in your high tops," Damon snickered as he lightly kicked at her foot with his. Frowning he studied her carefully. "Where are you hurt?" he muttered, sounding confused.

"Damn vampire senses. I'm not hurt. I just got a paper cut," Addie explained, holding up her hand for him to examine.

Carefully cradling his hand he offered, "Do you want me to -"

"It's just a paper cut," she said firmly, taking her hand back. Looking at it she concluded, "It's not even bleeding, really."

"I was just being polite. How'd you get it?" he casually asked as he slipped off his leather jacket and tossed it onto her bed.

"I was trying to wrap Caroline's birthday present but I get along with wrapping paper about as well as I get along with her," Addie scowled as she resumed her task, taping two edges together.

Damon chuckled, "I am not even going to try and reason how you compare a person to wrapping paper. I do happen to be quite efficient with it myself, though, so if you would like some help…."

"Please," she sighed in exasperation, as she pushed the partially wrapped box and tape to the other end of her desk, towards him. A sense of envy hit as she watched him fold and manipulate the paper with ease. "Wrapping paper, it's annoying, like Caroline. It also deceptive; it doesn't tell you what's inside, which is usually a good surprise. You see Caroline and you expect the shallow, dumb blonde cheerleader. Before she changed into a vampire, what you saw was kind of what you got. She's a stronger, more mature person now."

"You make some of the weirdest comparison, love. Here," he grinned, passing the gift to her. "Perfectly wrapped _and_ I managed not to get any paperc uts."

Addie bit the inside of her cheek as she noticed Damon wearing a grey tie with alternating navy, black, darker grey, and white stripes at pinky width intervals with a black button up. It was a new tie. Trying not to smile she pointed out, "You're wearing a tie."

Conspiratorially, he leaned closer to her and whispered, "I know." Damon shrugged and gave her a lazy grin. "You said you like it when I wear a tie. Believe it or not, I _do_ try to be a good boyfriend and impress you."

"I can see that," she said slowly, trying to hide the humor in her voice, "There's just… the look isn't really you."

"I know," he repeated, less amused. "I'm willing to look like an idiot for my girlfriend."

"It's only a minor wardrobe malfunction," Addie reassured him with a slight twitch to her lips. Gesturing towards his tie she asked, "May I?"

Damon tilted his chin up, allowing her easier access to his tie. The back of Addie's knuckles gently grazed his throat as she undid the most basic of tie knots, the Oriental tie. Leaving it draped around his neck she undid the button at the height of the collar and then the one at the top of his chest.

Distractedly she asked, "Why are you dressed up?"

"Some fundraising Founder's party supporting the restoration of Wickery Bridge, it's a cover for a council meeting. Why?"

"I'm deciding if I want you to look good or if that will just make me feel threatened and jealous all night."

Earnestly he tried to comfort her, "You don't need to-"

Addie waved a dismissive hand and interrupted, "I know and I'm definitely not going to fret over a bunch of bored, middle aged women." She flicked open the button over his heart. "Those parties are very dull. At least you'll be something entertaining to look at. We just need to figure out what to do with this," reflected Addie, gently tugging at each side of the silk around his neck.

The fabric glided through her fingers as she tried to figure out what she wanted to do. While Damon wasn't exactly on display, he was a little more exposed than she liked. The knot needed to be one that was large and distracting, preferably one that she could adjust so she didn't spend five times trying to tie it perfectly. Deciding, she pulled the tie off of him and draped it around her own neck.

"Uh, what are you doing?" he laughed as he watched her adjust the grey fabric until the skinny end was just longer than the wide end of the tie.

"Tying your tie," she replied obviously.

"Not that, uh, playing life-size Barbie isn't fun but I do have two teeny, tiny things to ask. First, you do know that I'm the one wearing the tie so you should probably tie it on me, right? Second, are you _sure_ of what you're doing? That's a $400 Kiton tie of pure silk that I would rather not get knotted," Damon said cautiously, torn between letting her have her fun and the fact that he really liked the tie and didn't feel like running home to get a new one.

Addie scowled slightly as she looked up at him, "Of course I know what I'm doing! I just, well, it's easier to do this on yourself than it is on someone else and the knot I'm doing is adjustable so it doesn't matter."

Her bottom lip was pulled between her teeth as she focused. While pinching the big end she took the thin end and crossed over where she held, taking the length up through the little loop she had created. She wrapped the little end around the back of the other side, forming a triangle, crossed over the front of the tie, went back up the loop through the back. On each side of the forming knot she made a triangle, leaving on a little loose, and then repeated the process with another tight triangle on each side. With her thumb she found the little bit of space that had been left between the loose triangle and the know and shoved the tail of the tie through that gap.

"Ha! Perfect!" she beamed triumphantly up at him.

Unable to suppress a grin at her glee and her adorable mistake Damon had to cover his mouth with his hand, making it look as if he was studying her very seriously.

Knowing what his hand was hiding, Addie lightly smacked him in the stomach with the back of her hand as she insisted, "I didn't screw up! Look! The tie is a bit long on me but look." She grabbed hold of the knot and slid it partially down the tie.

Removing the article Addie transferred it to around Damon's neck. Her lips quirked to one side as she appraised him and decided to loosen the tie a little more, Oh, yeah. That was definitely more Damon, not buttoned up to the neck. Between the large, intricate knot and the tie, the women at the fundraiser wouldn't have much more to oogle than the devilishly handsome good looks he boasted every day. He was almost perfect; there was just one last thing..

"No," he said firmly, catching her hand as it came dangerously close to the hair he had spent more time than he cared to admit to styling.

Addie let out a long whining sound of disapproval. "It's just so _styled_."

"Funny. I think that's what I did to it before I left the house. So, hair aside, do I pass inspection?" he asked, holding his hands out to the side.

She bit her lip, giving a noncommittal shrug as she felt herself color slightly.

A smug smirk of satisfaction plastered itself to Damon's face. "Why, Miss Gilbert, are you blushing?" he teased.

"No!" she squealed.

Stepping closer to her he nodded and said with certainty, "I am definitely making you blush."

She pursed her lips in a failed attempt at a scowl and shook her head. "No, I'm just surprised that your looks actually match your ego for once."

Dramatically Damon slid a hand under the tie and clutched at his heart. "Ouch!"

"That''s a compliment!"

"Paired with an insult. I swear, that is a gift only you are blessed with."

"I wasn't aware you could actually be insulted," Addie quipped back smartly.

He inhaled sharply and gave her a guilty smile. "It's pretty hard to do but when it happens, well, it's always you, my love."

"Really?" she asked softly, her shoulders sagging,

"Hey, hey, hey," he said quickly, lifting her chin so she was looking him in the eye. "I'm just kidding."

"You're not, though."

Damon sighed, looking for the right words, "Ok, I'm partially serious. But, Ads, we both know my ego can get a little over inflated. You keep it in check. You keep me grounded." He laughed, "Love, if it wasn't for you I would probably be trying to compel half the town and thinking I could get away with it."

"You wouldn't become _that_ arrogant," she giggled, unconsciously slipping her arms around his waist.

"Sure I would! The Salvatore's have always supplied the vervain to the council. You really think I'm above cutting off the supply and just compelling everyone? I mean ever since Liz has found out about me I'd be stupid to assume their wasn't someone else available to supply vervain should I fail to so I can't do that now but still."

Skeptically she questioned, "Should I be concerned that you seemed to have thought a lot about this?"

"Nope," he answered, poking the tip of her nose as he stressed the "puh" sound. "You should be concerned that this is me pulling evil ideas off the top of my head. Can you imagine what I could come up with if I actually sat down and thought about it?"

"You talk a big game but your bark is much worse than your bite," Addie murmured, stepping closer to him.

Damon smirked as he brushed the hair off her neck and gently, deliberately scraped his teeth where her pulse increased. His lips moved against her neck as he playfully growled, "Do I need to remind you about my bite?"

"Maybe," she teased, tilting her head to allow him better access.

He pulled her into his embrace, briefly waiting to see if she recoiled or tensed. When all he felt were her small hands pushing into his back he took that as a sign of encouragement. His breath was warm as it flowed over her, making her shiver. Feather light lips grazed the shell of her ear until he planted them firmly just beneath it. Addie whimpered softly as his teeth tugged at her earlobe. Warm, teasing kisses trailed down the length of her neck.

"Like I said," Addie whispered, softly sighing, "you talk a big game but it's just that."

Leaning back he raised an eyebrow at her in disbelief. "You wouldn't seriously be thinking that? I find my bite to be a bit more _effective_ with a little build up," said Damon, his voice low and rough as he firmly rubbed at her back, cradling her to him, "don't you?"

"I think games are more fun when two can play," she retorted with a sly grin A sharp tug on his tie brought his lips with in reach but he instantly pulled away, a taunting smirk playing at his lips.

" _Usually_ that's how it is, but, you sees, you insulted a vampire's bite. That is not a wise move, Addie. Right now it's _my_ game," he informed her good naturedly. In a darker, more salacious tone he added, "And you're the prize."

"Nu-uh," she giggled, quickly darting to the far side of her bed. "I refuse to be the prize in your twisted game."

Damon crossed his arms and frowned at her across the room. In a flash he was directly in front of Addie, cupping her cheek and claiming, "You have always been the prize."

"Ugh! No vampire advantages!" she exclaimed, pulling away from him.

He cocked his head and gave her a predatory grin that made her knees week as she took a step back. Unfortunately it was into the edge of the bed; Damon had her cornered.

"That's cute; you first accuse me of a weak bite and then you expect me to play fair."

"I just said your bark was worse than your bite," said Addie, her defensively raised hands brushing against the fabric of his shirt. "See, you're being all intense and intimidating but I kinda feel like I'm playing with a really cute puppy."

That floored him. His jaw dropped as he gaped, "A puppy? I'm a puppy? And _cute_?!"

Screw that. He'd be fine with Addie viewing him as many pathetic things but never something so passive and defenseless as a puppy. His hand buried in her hair as he gave it it a more forceful tug than usual, tilting her head back until she was looking up at him. His lips descended on hers in a hot, heady kiss. It wasn't the usual teasing game when his skilled tongue invaded her mouth, tasting, exploring, dominating. The fabric of his shirt bunched under his fingers as she tried to challenge him. He wasn't having it, though, and bit sharply at her lip, making his position of power clear. Damon slipped the bright blue flannel from her shoulders as he gently pushed her onto the bed.

"Cute?" he growled challengingly.

Grinning like the Cheshire cat, Addie wrapped his tie around her hand and yanked him to her as she laid back. Sweetly she dared, "Adorable."

Damon met her in another bruising kiss. The feel of his hands moving along her body, the beat of his heart, the taste of his mouth, the clash of lips, teeth, and tongue, stole her breath. Addie whimpered softly as he alternated between forceful nips, teasing nibbles, and soothing strokes of his tongue against her lower lip. Deft fingers flicked open the buttons of his shirt. His breath caught as her nails raked down his chest.

Releasing her lip with a soft _pop_ he trailed quick kisses from the corner of her mouth to just below her ear. Again he tugged tight on her hair to leave her neck perfectly exposed to him. He smirked while she began to squirm beneath him as he gently nipped his way down.

When he reached the base of Addie's throat he gave her a firm kiss. A hand on her wriggling hip stilled her as he slightly pushed her into the bed. "Don't move," he ordered quietly and gently nipped at her neck.

"Damon," she pleaded, drawing his name out as his lips ghosted up the side of her throat. Scratching down his back she felt rather than heard his sudden inhale.

Pulling her earlobe between his teeth he teased, "Don't do that."

The cool skin of his broad, brawny back felt like a soothing balm against her arms and the heated blood pumping through her as she wrapped her hands around Damon's shoulders and tried to bring him closer to her. When she tried to kiss him he buried his face further into her neck leaving her nose brushing his satin dark locks. His hair had the minty, woody smell of his tea tree hairline product. One of the most physically attractive things about Damon was how he always smelled amazing.

"Do something," she whined.

He chuckled and peppered chaste kisses up and down her neck again. Sardonically he taunted, "Can't, I'd ruin my _adorable_ reputation."

"I was wrong," mumbled Addie, her hands coming around to explore the front of his chest. "You are dark, alluring, mysterious, sexy, and… and… what else do you need to hear?"

"That's good," Damon acquiesced, shivering as Addie scraped at his nipple, the flesh pebbling under her touch. He softly nipped and nibbled along her neck, enjoying one hand exploring his chest and the other shoved in his hair, trying to pull him closer. Her breathing labored, he felt her starting to squirm beneath him again. "Tsk, tsk, tsk," he admonished, his breath blowing warm over her. "Told you not to do that, love."

Frustrated, Addie ran a nail through his happy trail and to the top of his pants. Far too sweetly she replied, "I'm sorry. _Please_ play nice."

Suddenly his teeth closed around the side of her throat, making Addie moan loudly and arch up into him. He slipped an arm under her back to keep her pressed to his chest. He released slightly to move lower on her neck and clamped down again. Even the hand still trying to push her into the bed couldn't manage to keep her still as she squirmed in anticipation and excitement under him. Her fingers hooked through his belt loops on either side of the perfect v-cut that outlined his hips. She dragged his hips until his were directly over hers and gave a sharp tug, pulling him towards her. Addie shivered at the vibrations from Damon's intense groan when they collided. Her leg wound up around his, keeping him close to her.

He gave a sharp bite just below her ear that he knew would teeter on that fine line between pleasure and pain. His hand trailed along the curve of her hip, briefly squeezed at her behind, and stroked along the back of her thigh, up until he reached the hem of her shorts and ran his fingers as far up under the hem as he could reach. Even in doing this he admonished, "I said 'don't move.'" Though he did manage to look at her disapprovingly.

He knew he should pull away from her, that things were dangerously close to going too far; when she woke up that morning she hadn't even wanted him to touch her. She was still very confused on what she wanted. And he… he really enjoyed the feel of her silky skin and the softness cradled against him. And the heat radiating off her was so intense and delicious it was creating a fever in him from the inside out.

Addie flushed under his gaze and coyly bit her lip. His hand on her leg and being held so close to him was very distracting, making it take a little longer than usual for her to come up with a comeback. Running her fingers through his hair, a small upturn to the corners of her lips and wide, dark eyes begging for forgiveness upon her face, she managed to sound surprisingly innocent while being so sly and pointed out, "I think we both know by now I have a problem following instructions. Plus, when we do things my way, it generally turns out better." Addie nodded as Damon was shaking his head. Placing a hand on each side of his face she stilled him and pulled him down for a soft, gentle kiss. "Yes," she insisted quiet and sensual, "I think this will be a lot more fun if I _move_." She gave a roll of her hips into him, making him grunt.

Damon kissed her fervently as she pulled him into another kiss. He tried to keep control but he was distracted by what she had said. It _did_ seem that she always chose to purpose do the opposite of whatever he said. If they did a direct comparison of who had a greater success rate with plans, Addie had the edge over him, but only if they compared over the time that they knew each other. And, yes, of course her idea was more fun. Her teeth snapped fiercely at his lower lip and he let out a low groan, unconsciously rocking into her. That felt good, really good. Why was he trying to argue with Addie logic? Addie always made rational sense. Why was he stupidly trying to argue against what was right? He acquiesced and pressed into her again.

She moaned at the delicious friction Damon was creating, rubbing herself against him as she tried to generate more. He kissed her hard, swallowing the wonderful sounds she was making, her When he felt Addie wiggle her hand between their chest he was afraid she was pushing him away but felt a great wave of relief when he realize she tugging out one of the sides of his shirts from between him. Then the material was gliding over his shoulders and down to his elbows.

"Off," Addie ordered breathlessly, her chest rising rising and falling against his rapidly.

Damon hummed contemplatively before declaring, "No. That would mean moving. I'm quite comfortable." The tips of his fingers skimmed the inside of her thigh and he toyed with the clasp of her bra to make his point.

"Well, I'm comfortable, too, but for you I'd be willing to be uncomfortable for a fraction of a second," she offered suggestively. He raised a speculative eyebrow at her. Addie gave a small shrug as she blushed. It wasn't that big of a deal. He'd seen her, held her, when she was in her bikini top and that covered less than her bra did. Of course that had been before they were dating and had been so he could drain out half of her blood as a step in the process of helping her resist compulsion. It would be breaking another one of his _protective boundaries_ but she had already convinced him to ignore a pretty big one.

He shook his head and sighed dramatically, as if it was a major inconvenience and huffed, "The things I do for you,"

Addie smirked triumphantly as he shook off the shirt but it quickly turned to horror when he started to mess with the grey striped tie. "No, no, no!" she cried, swatting at his hands. " _A)_ It's going to be a wrinkled mess if you do that. _B)_ I'll never be able to retie it to where you can't tell that. _C)_ I don't want to have to tie a different knot because that one is perfect."

"Yeah, I'll just leave the tie on, in that case," Damon muttered sardonically. "You are _so_ weird." Her lips pursed and she gave him a dismissive shrug. He gently kissed her cheek, the corner of her mouth. Against her lips he whispered, "And I love it. I love you, Ads."

Just like that she was filled with the swooping feeling she got whenever the roller coaster went down the biggest hill at 80 mph. Being loved by Damon was one of the most exhilarating, suspenseful, terrifying experience. It was perfectly safe and would run smoothly a million times until that time she forgot to pull the harness tight enough or the safety bar wasn't pushed down far enough and she ended up getting thrown from the ride. She knew he wanted to hear the words back but holding onto them kept her from slipping too far into the fantasy and reminded her to always do a safety check.

Unable to voice her feelings, Addie buried her hands in his hair and tried to convey the emotion through her lips. Damon accepted the substitution, kissing her back with just as much passion. She shifted under him, making her shirt raise slightly, reminding him of the deal she had offered.

"I didn't take off my shirt expecting you to reciprocate," he murmured, his lips skimming along her jaw.

"I know," she colored, suddenly very focused on drawing invisible lines that connected his shoulder blades with her fingernails. "I just..."

"You want me to take it off?" he finished when she didn't. He kissed her shoulder on either side of her white tank top.

Addie bit her lip and evasively answered, "I wouldn't be opposed to it."

"Mm-mm," objected Damon as he nudged up her shirt a few inches so he could nip at her hipbone. "It's a yes or no, all or nothing thing. It's not something that's happening unless you are 100% certain you want it and are comfortable."

She grabbed his shoulders and guided him back up. The weight of him against her and the feel of him pressing into her felt better than his teasing nibbles. Addie inhaled deeply and dug deep down to find the courage she needed. If she wanted to play these games with Damon Salvatore, she needed the confidence of Damon Salvatore. Or she at least needed to be able to fake it.

"I'm with myself in a bra every time I change, so let's say six times a day because of track practice and training to take on vampires. I've also been wearing one for about six years so I have had time to get use to the idea and image. I am 100% certain that I am 100% comfortable with myself in a bra and that I would be comfortable around you. The whole reason we are even having this discussion is because of your hang ups and what not. I mean, since when does a girl need to tell _you_ to take her shirt off? Really, Damon, how many times have you stopped and had a discussion about this? I think _you_ are uncomfortable and uncertain," Addie grinned smugly.

Damon scoffed as he knelt between her legs. Two could play if she was just going to be arrogant. He wasn't going to dwell on the point that he had probably started the conversation for a very valid reason that she had once again undermined with her Addie logic. He gave her a hooded, smoldering look and crooked his finger, motioning for her to sit up. He grinned predatorily at her as she pushed herself to resting on her hands.

"Closer," he taunted, tugging at the center of her shirt. He could hear her breath catch and her already speeding heart begin to race as she fully sat up. While he enjoyed being taller than her, Damon knew how much she disliked how significant the difference was because it made her feel as if he could use his height to intimidate her. He'd always been mindful of not abusing his height too much but this was a high-risk game of control she had chosen to play and towering over her as he knelt was a power play. He leaned in brushing the tip of his nose against hers, his lips ghosted against hers. Addie tried to properly kiss him but he pulled away, a teasing grin in place.

Frustrated, Addie returned this gesture with her own sly smirk and lightly scratched a path through the dark hair from his navel to the top of his jeans. Damon frowned slightly as he felt her toy with the button of his uncomfortably tight jeans. Some faint, tiny voice was screaming "bad idea, turn around." Her hair threaded through his fingers as he deeply kissed her, hoping to distract her. Damon prodded at her lips with the tip of his tongue, encouraging her to part them. He couldn't resist a soft sigh of relief when she did as he felt her hand run up his chest, messaging and exploring, while the other hand entangled roughly in his own hair. Addie broke away but continued to pepper him with kisses. His initial hiss of shock quickly gave way to long, low deep groan as she suddenly bit him sharply just behind behind where his ear and jaw connected. Her mouth felt so hot against his cool skin. She had definitely learned how to play rougher.

"Nice bluff," he heard quickly and quietly before she nipped at his Adam's apple.

What? He could feel her smiling against him; she was laughing at him. A ragged growl ripped through him, Pulling away he ordered, "Arms up."

"Huh?" Addie asked blankly, surprised by the sudden change in tone.

"Arms up," Damon repeated coolly.

She snorted, "Seriously? That's your approach?"

He rolled his eyes and sighed, "This is me giving you a chance to back out. Do you think I usually stop to talk?"

"You think I'm doubting this? Didn't we already establish that was you?"

"You established that by deflecting the doubt onto me, which you've just done again," Damon pointed out, pushing her back into a laying position gently. What the hell had he been thinking? He wasn't sure but he was fairly sure his brain hadn't been involved in the thought process.

Defensively she retorted, "So?"

He sighed as he stretched back out, hovering over her. "I invented and perfected the art of deflection, love. You do it when you're lying or you're uncomfortable. I don't know why you did it tonight but either reason is enough for me to put a stop to this." Damon smirked at the incredulous look she was giving him and propped his elbow next to her head, resting his head in his hand. He chuckled dryly, "Yes, I'm actually refusing to take a girl's clothes off." Reading the sudden fear and self-consciousness in her wide eyes he quickly added, "And it's not because I don't find her attractive because I really, really do. And it's not because I don't want to take her clothes off because I mostly definitely do." He flexed his hips into Addie's at her doubtful expression and stressed, "Trust me, I want to. At least 90% of me wants to. The other 10% is hung up on if you want this and the possible ramifications."

"I - ramifications?" she halted in confusion.

Damon shrugged, "You might think I'm in this only for something physical. It might turn into something purely physical; I have a much better track record with those relationships than emotional ones like what we have. We could be a lot better at a physical relationship and just choose the easy option. I really like this emotional thing we have going even though it can hurt like hell. You might not be ready and you could regret it or things could get awkward or you could get mad at me for not sticking to the rules we agreed to."

Blushing Addie mumbled, "So it's not because you think I'm too young or naive or innocent?"

He took a slow, deep breath as he chewed over his words. He didn't exactly understand why she was so sensitive about the terms when he meant them as positives and was only trying to protect her. "Well, the last time we had this conversation was over six months ago. You've grown up a bit, experienced some of the world and faced some things that no one could walk away 'innocent' from since then. I think, when you're ready, I won't feel like I'm corrupting you or scarring you for life if I take this," he hooked a finger under her tank and tugged at it, "off."

"What about more than the shirt?" she quietly asked, wrapping the end of his tie around her finger.

He shook his head quickly and stated firmly, "No, that's it."

"But-"

"No."

"Damon, be reasonable," she admonished.

Groaning, his head dropped to rest next to hers. "I am; you're not."

Addie snorted; she loved proving him wrong. Pointedly she asked, "When's the last time you had sex?"

One piercing blue eye popped open as he stared at her while she looked at him expectantly. After a tense moment he sharply retorted, "Why?"

"I'm making a point."

"I don't think I want to hear your point." He'd had enough Addie logic for one evening.

"You said I'm not being reasonable; I'm trying to prove I'm being completely rational. How long?" she insisted.

"Over six months."

"Seriously?" she said in surprise.

He frowned at her disapprovingly. "Do you really think I'd cheat on you?"

She shook her head slowly and admitted, "No but I figured with us being broken up for part of the summer…"

"Huh," Damon breathed in realization, "I suppose I could have... but I never had the desire to. I guess I knew it would really hurt you. Pissing you off with increased flirting with Elena was enough payback for you picking Klaus over me."

"So the last time you had sex was with Rose?" she checked.

"Yes. Do you have a point with my lack of sex?" he replied shortly, not wanting to continue the conversation.

"Can you even remember the last time you went six months without sex?" Addie challenged.

He nodded curtly. "Yes."

"Before you started having sex doesn't count."

"I figured that."

That piqued her interest. "When was it?"

"Why does it matter?" he scowled, rolling away from her.

Addie propped herself up on her elbow and watched him skeptically as he searched the bed for his shirt, found it, and began putting it on. He'd gone from hot to cold faster than she could keep up with. Something was wrong.

Fumbling with his buttons Damon mumbled bitterly, "If you're suggesting we have sex because I can't hold out or you think I'm going to leave you or cheat on you and find someone to fuck, you're very mistaken. I will have no problem waiting until _both_ of us are ready."

That was reassuring and all but it didn't explain why he was suddenly so uptight. "Ok," Addie acknowledged before probing. "You've always been so open about your sex life with me. What so different about this?"

"Nothing," Damon lied, running his fingers through his hair; she'd already messed it up. "Perhaps I just realized I shouldn't be discussing such an expansive history with someone who doesn't even have one."

"Shouldn't you be sharing your wisdom?"

"You're wise enough." He was keenly aware that this was Addie's first time dating dating, doing anything at all. He'd been her first kiss. Damon wanted and was trying to be good to her and not burden her with the weight and intensity of his feelings, things neither one of them were prepared to feel.

"With no history. You get you're being a little contradictory, right?" she pointed out, growing even more suspicious.

He shook his head as he laid back down next to her and argued, "No. Your limited knowledge and experience is all you need to know."

Pouting she countered, "As my boyfriend and someone who loves me, I would think that you would want to expand my knowledge and experience.

"Nope. Truth is, as your boyfriend and someone who loves you, I don't want you to learn more because it's my role to teach you. My history is 150 years of fucked up, I don't want to be responsible for screwing you up," Damon confessed cryptically.

Addie sighed impatiently, "That's you thinking too highly of yourself again. You're not going to screw me up just like you're not going to corrupt me."

"You like when I'm rough enough to leave you with bruises," he muttered as he dug his nail into his finger until a bright red bubble of blood surface. Carefully he brought his finger to her lips and only continued once he felt her tongue swipe the blood away and the marks on her neck started to fade. "I'm pretty sure that's me having already screwed you up. Real question, what are you going to do when your boyfriend can't magic away the hickeys? I mean, you can't walk around with them so that means you can't get them. You're gonna have to relearn to view what you currently consider to be teasing to be satisfying because that's as far as you can go without leaving a mark."

"So, you think you'll set unrealistic sex expectations for any guy who follows in your footsteps?" she asked, trying hard not to laugh and biting the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling.

"No! Well, I mean, I guess that could be one way of screwing you up. I don't know, Ads. My experiences haven't exactly been typical. As much as I could try to make sex _normal_ for you, sex with a vampire just isn't average sex. And that's not always a good thing. You can ask your sister for advice on this if you don't believe me! As boring and vanilla as my brother is, he's still a vampire."

Addie took the pillow from under her head and dropped it on Damon's face. "First, don't ever mention my sister while discussing sex. We don't have the kind of relationship where I would ever go to her for sex advice. Second, are we just never going to have sex because it means crazy vampire sex? I don't get it. You've slept with a 10 million other girls."

He laughed humorlessly as he tucked the pillow under his head and rolled on his side to face her. "I can guarantee you the actual number is closer to 10,000 than 10 million. And you can't compare yourself to any of them. The most I've ever felt with anyone else before is lust and I didn't really give a damn about what happened to them. I love you and am very concerned about your future."

"Can we just be brutally blunt and open about this once and for all so we don't have to keep having this discussion?" she pleaded. "I feel like you know exactly why you don't want to sleep with me but you just aren't telling me the whole truth and I don't know why."

His fingers trailed along her jaw as he finished tucking a strand of blue hair behind her ear. He considered her carefully before deciding, "Alright. Everything I've said has been true. There are some things I've hinted at but I haven't expressly told you, though."

"Like?" she prompted after he was quiet for several long moments.

"You're a virgin," he admitted, trying to sound casual and non accusatory. "I've never exactly had to face that challenge before, not that I ever would have cared. But I love you and I care very much. Do you know what your first kiss was because I'm not exactly sure which one you count. There was the one that took you by surprise, the one you initiated, the redo, and the one that you were finally ready for and they were all labeled as your first kiss at one point. I don't want that kind of doubt or questioning surrounding your first time. I want you to be completely ready and for it to be everything you dream of and I want it to be perfect. Sex is amazing and you deserve a great first impression of it."

"Well, I can't change the fact that I'm a virgin without cheating on you bu-"

"Don't do that."

"I'd never do that," reassured Addie, giving him a quick, chaste kiss. "But you should know that I already have very strong opinions on this topic. I never gave my first kiss much consideration and then you just kind of suddenly swooped in. However, once we had been going out for a while I figured I should probably give sex some thought so I wouldn't be caught off guard again. I've decided that at this point I'm not physically comfortable enough with you for sex yet; I'd feel too shy and self-conscious to be into it. I'm certain I want the experience to be with you, though. If it helps, my expectations aren't that high, even with your reputation preceding you. I've heard so many first time horror stories that the bar is set pretty low."

Wrapping his arm around her waist he pulled her closer to him and kissed her forehead. He gave a dramatic sigh, "That is such a big relief. Not. I know how awesome it can be and I have to do everything I can to make sure you know as well. I gotta put on my A game, make sure you're comfortable, make sure the timing, the setting, the build up, all that is perfect It's a lot of pressure."

"It doesn't have to be planned and organized; that just puts more pressure on both of us. Let the moment come naturally. Is that all you're worried about?" He made a noncommittal noise and gave a small shrug as his cheeks colored slightly. Addie's eyebrows raised in surprise. An embarrassed Damon was always a shock. "You promised honesty," she said coaxingly.

Damon groaned and buried his face between her neck and shoulder to escape her stare. Insecurely he mumbled, "I've only ever had sex. I've never made love."

Addie hesitated, "Ok, um, my knowledge is less than you think because I thought the two meant the same thing."

"No. When you make love there's, you know, love involved. I've never had that kind of love until now. But I don't want to be the only one making love. I don't want this to just be sex for you," he explained slowly and haltingly.

A hard lump formed in her throat. She tried to swallow but her mouth was dry. He had to know that it wouldn't just be sex for her either. "What are you getting at, Damon?"

He gently kissed her neck before pulling away and looking her in the eye. "Nothing happens until you can tell me you love me."

She grimaced, "Why do I get the feeling that this is just a way to extort those words out of me?"

"Because you're paranoid?"

"Damon!"

"What?! You have all the -"

A pounding on the door leading to the bathroom interrupted them.

Grinning broadly Addie placed a finger against his lips and whispered conspiratorially, "If we ignore her she'll go away." Then her fingers were slipping into his hair and pulling him in until their lips met in the lightest, most teasing of touch. He kept trying for a more intimate kiss but she continued to taunt him with ghosting brushes of her lips. Elena paused in her rapping on the door and called out her sister. Addie gave Damon an apologetic smile as she courteously covered his exposed ear.

"Just FYI, the knocking is louder than your voice. My lack of a response is a sign of me ignoring you," she yelled back.

"So that's a no on carpooling to Caroline's?" Elena huffed.

"Depends. Are you just going to try and get Damon to compel me into whatever you want?"

"Addie, if you would just give me a chance to-"

"There is no explanation for taking away someone's choice! Go on your own. Just like you decided to make the make the decision about Jeremy, on your own." Addie snapped back, knowing that would effectively send her sister away. She groaned, curling up against Damon for comfort. Playing with the end of his tie she wondered, "Do you have to go to that thing tonight? Can't we both skip our things and just stay here and make out?"

Damon frowned as he rested his chin on top of her head. He hated denying her anything, especially when they had been on the outs for so long but he had to. "With my brother functioning on crazy and Klaus willing to kill whoever to get his coffins back I, unfortunately, do need to attend this meeting and make sure the council are blissfully unaware of the supervillain showdown about to unfold."

"Shame."

"Indeed. I found out that Klaus told Stefan he could either let me make an attack on Klaus' life and lose mine if I succeeded or Stefan could guarantee the safety of both my life and Klaus'."

"So?"

"He chose to save my life; that's a sign of his humanity," Damon declared as if it were plainly obvious.

Not that she wanted to be the pessimist but Addie had to disagree. This wasn't proof that Stefan wasn't just taking control of his own fate into his own hands. She looked up to Damon, ready to point this out when she saw the faint glimmer of hope in his eyes; it was such a contrast to the cold, heartless expression he had bore when he believed Stefan to have betrayed him. There was no way she could bring herself to crash that optimism. Holding in a heavy sigh she tucked her head back under his chin as she traced the stripes on his tie.

"I'm confused," she said eventually, knowing he was expecting some kind of response. "You say that his humanity is on but he wouldn't give back the coffins when Klaus nearly killed my brother. That doesn't sound like the actions of Stefan with his humanity on, even in ripper mode."

"Yeah, well he's now also willing to risk my life so he can play offense and order Klaus' hybrids out of town."

"What?" Addie snapped, her head whipping up so fast she hit Damon under the chin, making him his as his teeth clashed together. "Sorry!" she squealed, gently rubbing at the area.

He tightened the arm around her and gave her when of his crooked, half smiles.. "It's fine. I already can't feel it," he reassured her. Still she looked worry and he didn't think it had to do with the headbutt. "I'm fine; I'm not in any more danger than usual. Stefan's just… he thinks Klaus willing to lose his family and defiance to take commands from him and simply kill people Stefan cares about in return is all a bluff. Problem is that Stefan is calling his own shots and he's willing to lose everything if he's wrong in calling Klaus' bluff, I think."

"So he saved your life to risk it? And you wanna argue his humanity on?" Addie had to remind herself to keep the humm of disapproval internal.

"That's just it, I don't think it's on or off," Damon uttered distractedly as he tried to think of a way to explain his idea.

Hearing a mystical quality in his voice she moved to look him in the eye, gently resting her hand on his face. As if to a two-year-old she slowly explained, "It's either one or the other, hun. It doesn't just disappear."

A warmth spread through him at the little term of endearment. It was the fourth time she had called him that. It didn't matter that the context was slightly patronizing. She had a valid point; she just didn't know everything like she thought she did.

"It's still there but the on/off switch is more of a dimmer control," he explained.

"Because with every other vampire it's all or nothing but we know how good Stefan is with that thing called moderation that he must be somewhere in the middle?" Addie retorted, unable to control rolling her eyes.

"No, I think it's because of his age, like his vampire age. I'm wondering if there is a thing like vampire puberty or maturity. I don't know. Something where you reach like the full-fledge vampire status," he reflected aloud, not really taking what she was saying to heart.

"Oh, God," Addie muttered as she pulled away from him and pushed a hand through her hair. "I seriously hate this supernatural shit. Vampires are immortal and don't age. Oh, wait. They do! And they go through fucking _vampire puberty_ after about 150 years! Do you hear how ridiculous this sounds? Please tell me this is something you are completely pulling out of your ass because you need _something_ to explain your brother's behavior."

Damon rested himself on his elbow and looked down at her. After a moment he partially conceded, "I might be doing that but there are sources that I'm coming up with this idea from. The first time I slept with Rose I was convinced that I cared too much about.…" He trailed off at her cold glare. There were debating viewpoints on if he had cheat in that particular situation since they never officially said they were together. He decided to gloss over the incident, she didn't need to know the details. "Cut to the point and Rose admitted the humanity switch was just a lie told to younger vampires. You can flip it when you're young and it's all too much but you eventually have to learn how to pretend not to care because humanity will come shoving its way in."

"And you've planned your whole 'vampire puberty' theory around what another one of your girls has said?" she asked coolly, the judgement clear in her voice.

"Not entirely, no," he said defensively. "I've been debating about if I could shut off my humanity."

"Have you really been considering that?" she whispered in alarm.

"No, I've just been wondering if I could. Right now I love you so much that it completely outweighs any negative feelings, meaning I would never have a reason to shut out my humanity. I can't think of a single situation where my love for you doesn't win. All the worst case scenarios I come up with and I don't think I can shut out my humanity," Damon admitted helplessly.

Addie's lips pursed as she refrained from blurting the first thing that came to her mind. He was blinded by emotions and just needed to see reason. "Guilt made you turn it off before. What's the guiltiest thing you could possibly do?"

Without any thought or hesitation he answered, "Being responsible for your death, in which case I have to suffer through the guilt and pain to keep the memory of you and what we have alive."

"Yeah but wouldn't all the guilt and pain get too cumbersome," she pushed.

"Oh, I would be a completely unfunctional 24/7 drunk to cope with that. It won't be _easy_ but I will always want to remember how I feel now with you, even if I don't deserve to," he admitted.

"Alright. Fine. Whatever. So you're convinced you've reached the point where you can't just flick the switch on your humanity?" Addie sighed in exasperation. This was ridiculous

"Well I'm sure as hell not going to try and check on the off chance that I'm wrong," he scoffed, "but I'm not convinced I could do it. I might be able to do it to some degree but I know I can't completely shut out the ways I feel about you."

"And this is, what? Vampire puberty? You're an adult vampire when you can't flip the switch?"Addie challenged, exhaling loudly.

"Not an _adult_ , I mean, I'm an adult now. Then you have vampires who are turned at 14-years and are trapped in that mindset and mentality and they're never really an adult. Like I said, maybe a point where you become a full vampire. Maybe the humanity switch is just a coping mechanism for new vampires to adjust to all the heightened emotions," he rambled.

"Ok," she drawled to herself as she pushed Damon onto his back. Taking his face between her hands she rested her forehead against his as she stared into his surprised, bright eyes. "Damon, I care more about you than I ever thought was possible. It scares me the way I feel about you. Whatever is important to you is important to me. That's why I'll support you and agree with you if you need to say Stefan's humanity is on a dimmer switch. I will trust you on that. Understand?" He nodded mutely and she couldn't resist giving him a long kiss, unsure if she was stalling or reassuring him.

"You really are gorgeous," Addie murmured to herself. The rare and striking combination of his black hair with light blue eyes and angular features made him her own dark haired Roman deity, Apollo. Lover of many with the power to heal or incite a plague and even in a strange way, his daylight ring made him a god of the sun among his kind.

Damon raised a curious eyebrow at her as she studied him with contemplation. He knew he wanted to say something but he was fairly sure that wasn't it. His hands tucked behind his head as he gave her a wink and arrogantly quipped, "I know." It did make his heart beat a little faster to hear it from her, though. "Weren't you making a point before being distracted by amazing looks? I know how hard it can be for you to keep focus."

"And just like that your attractiveness drops 1000 points. You should really consider becoming a mute."

"When you have a million points you can afford to lose a thousand." He frowned as she looked away from him. There was definitely something on her mind. More gently he cajoled, "Come on, Ads. Open and honest. What do you want to tell me?"

She rolled away from him and onto her back with a heavy sigh. "I want to support you, Damon. I do," Addie insisted, curling her hand around his bicep since his hand was out of reach. "I just… You have to realize how far I've come from marking all the scientific inaccuracies in _Dracula_ to accepting you and your world."

"It's impressive," he acknowledged, kissing the back of her hand.

"It's been hard," she admitted. "Now, I've been in and out of therapy since I was eight for my issues and what I've learned is that human psychology is not an exact science. If it was, I could tolerate feeling crazy about ten times better _or_ , in a perfect world, there'd be a cure. At least there have been scientific experiments on anxiety and depression and mania and I have some empirical evidence to create some facts." Addie exhaled slowly as she ran her hand through her hair.

Damon groaned in understanding; he should have been more considerate. He reached out to her and was grateful when she curled up into his side. His lips brushed the top of her head apologetically as he confirmed, "Unfounded theories on vampire development and psychology that have no scientific basis are just too much for you to handle."

"I'm sorry," whispered Addie. "I'll go along with whatever you believe but I can't go into the theory of why. I need sense and logic. I've accept the tangible of the supernatural world without reason but I don't think I can do much more than that."

He lifted her chin with a single finger and softly kissed her, catching her bottom lip between his. It was uninhabited and utterly sincere. "You're amazing and you have nothing to be sorry for," he whispered. "I'm glad you told me the truth. Sometimes I forget that this isn't a world you wanted into."

"But I chose you and I kinda figured it was a package deal," she shrugged, giving him a small grin. "I just need to keep my limits for the sake of my sanity. This supernatural world is one I have to accept and deal with if I want to be with you. I _really_ , really want to be with you, Damon.

"Really?"

"Really. We're going to figure out what to do about your brother and Klaus together, ok?"

He shifted uncomfortably beneath her gaze; it wasn't a question. She wanted to be treated as his equal. Instinct always made him jump to protect her, though. And their approaches to the situation were completely different. And he still hadn't told her where the coffins were nor did he plan to.

"I won't act on something without discussing it with you first. If you truly believe it to be wrong we'll discuss it and come up with something else," Damon offered in compromise. "But know I'm always going to put your safety first."

Addie realized he wasn't giving her an exact agreement but it was progress that he agree to talk to her without acting and keeping her in the dark. It was the best she was going to get from him. "Alright," she nodded.

"Good," he relaxed, pressing a kiss to her temple.

After a few moments of silence, "So, when did you go six months without sex."

"Seriously?" groaned Damon.

"Why don't you want to talk about it?" pressed Addie.

"Why do you want to know about it?"

"Mostly because you won't talk about it."

He sighed, holding her tighter as she tried to pull away from him, "Just because you're curious doesn't mean you actually want the truth."

"I always want the truth with you, even if I'm not going it like it."

"Fine," Damon grumbled. "I _thought_ I was madly in love with Katherine after I turned and I initially had every intention of waiting for her."

Addie tensed; she should have figured it had something to do with Katherine. "How long did you wait?"

"Almost fifty years."

"What changed?"

"I met a vampire named Sage and she showed me that I was actually being a very bad vampire. I wasn't embracing the fun parts of being a vampire," he shrugged. "I became what you'd consider _bad_ after that. Prior to that I was a halfway responsible guy."

"Were you involved with her?" she asked quietly.

After a moment Damon tensely answered, "She was a friend, Ads."

Casually she remarked, "Rose was a friend."

"It's just sex," he replied warily. "Nondiscriminatory, meaningless, fun sex. I've never had anything compared to what I have with you."

"I don't care who've you slept with," Addie replied tersely.

He snorted, "Really? Because it sounds like you do."

"Fine. I care about the ones you've had relationships, friendships with," she admitted. "I don't buy the whole friends with benefits thing. And of course I'm jealous of Katherine."

Damon exhaled slowly. "It's always just been a friends with benefits thing though. Out of all my fucking issues you don't think I'm able to separate my emotions from my body? I can get the jealousy over Katherine; I was fooled into blindly lusting for her and trusting her. You, more than anyone, know that I am completely over her though."

"I know; it's just hard. Wouldn't you be jealous over other guys I've been with?"

"I'd be extremely jealous," he growled, burying his face in the crook of her neck, gently peppering it with kisses. "You'd actually have feelings about whoever you hooked up with. Your inexperience is a blessing and a curse." Wanting a distraction from such a heavy topic his fingers sneaked under her tanktop at the sides, tickling, eliciting a beautiful giggle as she squirmed under his ministrations.

* * *

 **A/N: I'm not really happy with this chapter but, as someone pointed out, I did miss my weekly update. Things have been crazy between moving to a new state (no more living on a street with the name Damon in it - hopefully that won't effect my muse) and starting a new job**.

 **A couple of people were interested in Addie and Damon's physical relationship and when something more was going to happen. They made some progress here but in the end there's still things going through both their minds that they need to work out first.**

 **Thank you everyone so much for reading, especially to those of you who comment - this chapter is for you guys.**


	14. Chapter 13

Pushing up the sleeves on her blue plaid shirt Addie could help but notice how uncharacteristically warm it was for an October night. The stuffy crypt didn't really help.

"This is creepy," Elena whispered as she followed her sister into the building.

Bonnie nodded in agreement. "Even for us."

"You play with spirits and ghost," Addie retorted sharply. "You don't get to judge creepy."

Matt looked around the decrepit building uncertainly. He hadn't been elated when Elena's little sister announced she had a great idea once Caroline had said she didn't want to celebrate her birthday. Addie had always been a little on the strange side and when she had become cryptic about her idea, refusing to give away anything but the location he had been less than thrilled. But everyone else had agreed to go along with her mysterious plan. Matt was tired of the guessing game though, "What are we doing, Addie?"

Solmely standing at the front of the she turned to her friends and lamented, "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to mourn the loss of our dear friend Caroline Forbes."

Elena groaned loudly, "Seriously, Addison? Have you no tact?"

"I'm serious!" she nodded feverently. "Caroline's dead. Katherine snapped her neck. She woke up to a completely different lifestyle. Caroline, physically you may be trapped at 17, a filler year but," what was it Damon had said about vampire puberty? "you're still going to grow as a person and gain more and more life experiences as the years pass by and gain some wisdom. Look, girl, you're dead and you've never had a funeral. That's what you need, not another birthday." Addie shrugged as everyone stared at her and lightly remarked, "It's possible that I'm just crazy."

"You're crazy but not about this," her sister eventually decided. Elena motioned to Bonnie to open the boxed cake that they brought so she could pull it out. She placed it on one the tombs at the front of the room. "Addie's right. You need to say goodbye to your old life so you can move on with your new one."

Caroline's eyebrows briefly furrowed in confusion before she smiled slightly. "Ok," she agreed, taking of the feathery purple birthday tiara. " Here lies Caroline Forbes…"

"Cheerleader, Miss Mystic Falls, third grade hopscotch champion," teased Elena as she stuck candles into the cake.

"Friend. Daughter. Overachiever," added Bonnie.

"Mean girl," interjected Matt, quickly adding, "sometimes, no offense."

Thinking about the most dramatic changes Addie had noticed in Caroline since she had become a vampire she tacked on, "She was a shallow, insecure little girl who didn't know better."

"Isn't it bad to speak ill of the dead?" the blonde pouted.

"Not if it implies good things about the living dead. Come on, Care; it's Vampire Funeral 101," Addie replied confidently.

Bonnie rolled her eyes as she muttered, "You are so pulling this out of your ass."

"You'd be amazed at just how much of life I pull out of my ass," Addie returned under her breath.

"She was 17 and she had a really good life. So rest in peace, so that she can move forward." Picking up the cake and carefully balancing it Elena walked up to Caroline. "That's what you really need. What we all really need. Amen.. or cheers… or whatever," she concluded with an awkward laugh. Looking pointedly at the candles she address Bonnie and the they were suddenly glowing with little flames at the tip. "Nice! Okay, make a wish," she ordered eagerly, holding the cake out to Caroline.

After briefly thinking the vampire closed her eyes and blew out the candles.

* * *

Standing towards the back of the mausoleum Addie leaned against the wall as she watched her friends and her sister enjoy cake and pass around a bottle of tequila. Well, she more watched Elena and _her_ friends. Matt definitely wasn't on Addie's friends list. Caroline was closer to Elena than she was too Addie, mostly because Addie hadn't spent much time with Vampire Caroline. Human Caroline had been too open-minded with unrealistic views and expectations and she had found Addie to be the exact opposite. It hadn't been surprising that they butted heads a bit. Bonnie was the only one there that Addie was close to.

"What are you doing?" she demanded as she noticed the glow of Caroline's cell phone reflect off her face as she stood a little bit away from the group too.

"What?" The blonde looked up at her innocently, lowering her cell phone, trying to hide it in her hands. "Nothing."

"Bull. What are you doing?" Addie demanded authoritative and confident. Human Caroline had always backed down when she became certain and controlling. Thankfully Drunk Caroline had the reactions of Human Caroline.

In a tiny, guilty voice she admitted, "I might have texted Tyler."

Having tuned in at her sister's bossy voice Elena sighed dramatically, "Caroline."

"What? I'm delicate!"

As much as she wanted to comment on Caroline turning back to a Klaus worshipping hybrid bound to do his bidding she found she couldn't really reproach her without being hypocritical. Tyler hadn't been in full control of his actions when he had gotten Jeremy off of the vervain. Damon had been in complete control of his when he had drugged her. At least she had taken about a month's break from him, though.

"Give her a break," defended Addie.

"Yeah," agreed Bonnie snidely. "You can't control what everyone does all the time."

Mentally Addie gave her best friend a standing ovation. All day the right words to reprimand her sister for compelling Jeremy to Denver had been eluding her but she was glad that someone said something.

"Wow," said Elena, taken aback.

Matt inhaled through his teeth, "Ouch, Bon."

Scowling at the boy and her sister, Addie clapped slowly and graciously added, "Thank you for saying what needed to be said."

Bonnie flashed her a grateful look before turning to Elena and apologizing, "Sorry, I know it's Caroline's birthday, funeral or whatever, but I just feel it's really wrong that you compelled Jeremy to leave town."

"I'm doing it to protect him, Bonnie. I want to give him a chance to have a quiet, normal life."

"He should be able to choose how he wants to live it. You're taking his choices away."

Addie watched the verbal spar back and forth between her sister and best friend. They both had a point.

Elena shook her head as she insisted, "Bonnie, you can't tell him."

Sharply she retorted, "Why? Are you going to compel me not to?"

"You know, you guys are ruining a perfect funeral," interrupted Matt, trying to restore peace.

"I'm sorry. I'm just gonna go sleep it off or something," Bonnie muttered, excusing herself. On her way out she muttered to Caroline, "Happy birthday."

On a whim Addie followed her. "You're right, you know," she said quietly, falling into step next to Bonnie as they headed towards where they had parked the cars.

"Of course I know. Why do you think I'm upset, Addie?" fumed the witch. "Why aren't you?"

"Trust me, I am thoroughly pissed off but, of all the crappy things my sister has done, this doesn't rank in the worst for me. Elena's always responsible for someone getting killed. Jeremy almost died because of her yesterday. It's not safe for him here. He'd never leave here on his own. I don't agree with compelling him but I definitely don't want a dead brother. Can't you see why it's a little hard for me to pick a side?" she replied wary.

Bonnie frowned, as she hit the button to unlock her car. She gave Addie a disapproving look as she opened the driver's door. "You still have a chance to do the right thing."

Her fingers raked through her hair as she watched Bonnie's red taillights fade into the distance. What was the right thing? Letting Jeremy go off and have a normal, happy but compelled life or telling him the truth and leaving him to the unknown of Mystic Falls. Damon had compelled Jeremy on Elena's request. He said he didn't know if he would compel her or not if he could.

Heading back through the cemetery towards the old crypt she pulled out her cellphone. Never did she think she'd be going to Damon for moral advice. However, she knew how much he loved his brother, even if he kind of hated Stefan. Perhaps some insight into whether or not he would compel Stefan away to safety would help her decide on what to do about Jeremy.

In a clipped voice Damon answered, "Not a good time, Ads."

"What's wrong?" she worried.

"Just a typical Founder's party. Klaus wooing the mayor. My brother stabbing a hybrid then trying to decapitate him, thinking he can be a better villain than Klaus. Aren't you supposed to be having a birthday party?" he asked, the frustration and annoyance clear in his voice.

Addie hesitated; Damon obviously wasn't in the mood for giving advice. "Um, it kind of turned into a funeral."

"What?"

"Nothing," she dismissed, shaking her head. "Uh, it sounds like you got your hands full so I'll just… call me tonight, will you?"

"What's wrong? What happened?" he demanded, concern replacing the aggravation.

She sighed as she leaned against a tree, "Nothing. I was just looking for some advice. Go deal with villains and hybrids and keeping the whole town in the dark."

Damon snorted bitterly, "Yeah, that plan's blown. Klaus has Carol believing he's going to protect the town while Stefan is some out of control lunatic ready to destroy it! And Liz is on my case to get him to stand down against Klaus."

"You _did_ just say he tried to kill a hybrid in the middle of the Founder's party. That's kind of out of control. And pretty reckless. There are regular people at those things who know nothing about the supernatural and I doubt a dead body or a brawl between a vampire and hybrid is the way they should learn about it," she pointed out rationally as she plucked the fall leaves from a low hanging branch.

"Not helpful, Addison."

"I wasn't trying to be helpful. I was pointing out the obvious. If you want to be obtuse and ignore the fact that Stefan is a problem as he goes through vampire puberty with his humanity on a dimmer switch then fine," Addie retorted carelessly.

She could easily imagine his narrowed eyes and clenched jaw as he snarled, "I'm hanging up."

The other end of the line and she pulled the phone away from her ear, looking at it in irritation. To no one she seethed, "Just because you say you're hanging up on someone before you actually do it in the middle of a conversation, it's still hanging up on someone in the middle of a conversation."

Quickly she dismissed Damon's behavior; he was stressed and she may have slightly provoked him. Her feet dragged and she groaned as she made her way back to her sister, Matt and Caroline. Bonnie's presence had made the night bearable, returning without her seemed painful. A beam of light suddenly struck her eyes and she cringed.

"What the hell?" snapped Addie, holding up her hand to shield her eyes as she moved into the light.

As he redirected the flash light Matt said with obvious disappoint, "You're not Caroline."

"Thankfully, no. Why would you think I am?"

"We've been abandoned; Caroline ran off with Tyler," explained Elena as she appeared next to the boy.

"She is _so_ getting back together with him," Addie mumbled to herself. She'd only manage to been apart from Damon for so long because of the physical distance she had demanded. If she were to judge, Caroline and Tyler were a more intense couple than her and Damon.

"No! Nu-uh, not happening. We're going on a search party," announced Elena. "I don't trust that she won't get back together with him and that is a dangerous thing.

Addie's eyes narrowed as she realized her sister was trying to make a decision for someone else again. Perhaps she should tell Jeremy he was compelled.

"Caroline!" Matt called out loudly.

"Come on, Caroline. We don't have anymore drinks," added Elena, managing to add a whining element to her voice. Addie mimed gagging as she watched her sister playfully nudge Matt with her shoulder and in a spooky voice say, "And Matt's being haunted by the Fell ghosts."

Grinning, he gently shoved her back. Addie shook her head in disgust. Thank God they had broken up; they were always revoltingly cutesy. Elena was still gross with Stefan but in more of a way that suggested tossing a bucket of ice water on them. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted when someone shoved her back hard enough that the breath was knocked out of her and she flew threw the air. She tuck her hands out behind her to brace herself to land on her buttt and hands. As soon as she made contact with the ground she heard a familiar crack and felt an agonizing burst of white hot pain begin in her right wrist and spread through her hand and arm. Her eyes went wide in shock.

Addie blinked rapidly to try and make sense of what she had seen but Elena was gone. Matt was slumped against the crypt, hopefully just unconscious, but she didn't see her sister. Was that _Stefan_ who had his hand clamped over Elena's mouth? Had he just shoved Matt and herself out of the way so he could _abduct_ her sister from a cemetery? Addie moved her hand and tears immediately sprang to her eyes; she could feel her wrist painfully throbbing with each heartbeat. She'd never imagined Stefan hurting her but that had been his hero hair, she was certain of it.

Using her uninjured hand she fished her phone out as she clumsily got to her feet. It was very difficult to work the device using only her left hand but any movement to her right arm, other than holding it like an "L" in front of her stomach caused pain.

On the first ring Damon spat, "What, Addison?"

"Stefan just took Elena," she whispered, her voice cracking in fear.

"What?"

"We were in the cemetery. Stefan sped up, knocked Matt and me away from Elena and took her."

"How do you know it was Stefan if it was moving fast?" he questioned disbelievingly.

"He slowed long enough to clamp his hand over her mouth and I recognized him. I _know_ what I saw, Damon. Your lunatic, out of control brother kidnapped my sister," she yelled, her eyes burning with unshed tears of fear and anger.

"Fuck," he swore so softly she barely heard it. "I'll take care of it, Ads," he reassured her, hanging up before she could respond.

Addie sniffled as she struggled to put her phone away. It was still rude to hang up on someone in the middle of a conversation. Even if he was rushing off to save her sister. Damon could do it; he could handle his brother. Squating in front of Matt she awkwardly slapped at his face with her left hand and called his name until he eventually stirred.

"W-w-what happened?" he stammered, blinking in confusion.

"The usual Elena and Stefan drama. Nothing we can do about it. We need to find Caroline," she answered dismissively, trying to keep her attention off of the real problem

Matt eyed her suspiciously, "What's usual? I'm pretty sure I don't get knocked out usually."

Making a big show of being annoyed Addie huffed, "Can't you just ask Elena later? It's really none of my business and I really don't care."

"Fine," he begrudgingly agreed. He never really liked Addie. "Where's Caroline?"

"I don't know, that's why I said we need to find her," hissed Addie, trying to keep her cool. She just wanted to get home and find Elena there. "It will be faster if we split up."

* * *

Addie rested her wrist in her lap as she sat in her car looking up at the brightly lit Founder's hall. The phone weighed heavily in her hand. Asking Klaus for a favor was akin to selling her soul to the devil. It was for Caroline, though. When Matt had found her he texted Addie that Tyler had given the vampire a fatal bite. Without thinking she ran to the Jeep and took off towards the only cure, Klaus' blood.

The building was packed and she was hardly dressed to blend with the crowd as she sought out Klaus. She couldn't movie around without drawing Klaus' attention. In addition to asking him for a favor, she actually had to use her cell phone for it's intended purpose and actually call him. She knew he wouldn't answer a text simply because he enjoyed making her uncomfortable.

"Addison, how lovely to hear from you," Klaus picked up, sounding genuinely pleased. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I need to talk to you. Now."

She could see the mocking grin on his face. "I'm listening."

"In person."

He hesitated, sounding conflicted, "I'm a bit preoccupied at the moment."

"Founder's party, I know. I'm here," she replied quickly and curtly.

"In that case you should join me and I'd be happy to discuss whatever it is you need," he said too brightly.

Addie's fingers twitched as she held the phone, wishing she could run them through her hair. Klaus unnerved her. "How soon can you come outside?"

"Oh, no, no, no, my dear Addison. If you want to meet you'll have to come to me. When you enter go down the hall immediately to your right and it's the second door on your left."

"I'm not dressed for a Founder's party, Niklaus," sneered Addie. She wasn't in the mood to play his games.

"Then I suggest you move quickly."

"Seriously?" Addie scoffed as she was hung up on for the third time that night. "Doesn't anybody know how to say goodbye anymore?"

Groaning, she got out of the car and slammed it behind her. She inhaled sharply in pain as she accidentally jostled her wrist in the motion. Addie's strides were long and purposeful as she strode up to the hall. Dealing with Klaus was a lot like how she had to initially handle Damon and still needed to act during certain fights. Knowing exactly what she wanted was essential as was refusing to be intimidated.

The party was boisterous and in full swing as Addie slipped in through the front door. There were many familiar faces but luckily nobody paid her any attention as she slipped down the hallway Klaus had told her told. Her palms became clammy and her heart started to race as she reached the second door on the left. With a deep breath she entered the room, swiftly closing the door behind her. Leaning against a desk Klaus raised a champagne flute and flashed her a cheery grin in greeting. It was the sight of the room's other occupant that made her blood run cold.

"Explain," Damon hissed, his voice dangerously quiet as he only stood a few feet away. Drawn to his full height, arms crossed, cheeks pink, peering down his nose Damon radiated cold and fury.

Addie bit her lip so hard she tasted blood all to avoid crying out when she moved to guilty shove her hands in her pocket. She averted her eyes from Damon as his narrowed and scrutinized her. In a heartbeat he was in front of her, gingerly moving her right arm to inspect it.

"Can you straighten your fingers?" he asked softly, gently trying to nudge out her curled fingers. He took her soft whimper of pain as a no. Delicately he felt the swelling, which was at it's worst right above her wrist. Trying to turn her arm so he could look at it top down only caused her more pain. "It's broken," he concluded. "What happened?"

"Your brother," she retorted bitterly, wishing she could pull her arm away, "who currently has my sister, who you are supposed to be saving."

"I told you I'd take care of it and that's what I was trying to do when you decided to chat up Klaus!" he growled. Though he let go of her arm he couldn't stop looking at it as he muttered, "I'm really going to kill him."

Addie scoffed in outrage and disgust, "I wasn't chatting him up! Tyler bit Caroline, which means she's going to die unless she gets Klaus' blood."

"You don't deal with Klaus to save Caroline! Everybody told her not to be with Tyler. It's her own fault."

"I'm sorry. I forgot I needed your permission before running my own life. You should probably make up a chart of who I can and cannot associate and under what circumstances," she said sarcastically, intentionally hitting him in the shoulder as she passed him and moved to Klaus.

He gave her a devious smirk as his eyes flashed between the swirling liquid in his glass and up at her. "It seems you have two problems only I can solve."

"Excuse me?"

"Stefan's next move against Klaus is your sister. The hybrids leave town and we get Elena back."

Her breathing became shallow and her chest began to ache. There was something off about the way Klaus was looking at Damon. Suspiciously she questioned, "What exactly did he say, Damon? Those aren't Stefan's words."

"'What will Klaus do if he can't make anymore hybrids?'" reiterated Damon, uncomfortably rubbing at the back of his neck. Watching Addie turn white as paper he quickly added, "But that's not what he wants to do. That's not his goal. He wants the hybrids out of town. We give him that and Elena stays safe."

"Are you crazy?! That statement clearly implies 'I'm going to kill Elena.' It doesn't say 'let's make a deal!'"

"He loves her; he won't kill her."

"He's operating on crazy! We don't know what the fuck is going on with his humanity! He may not even love her if that dimmer switch is low enough!"

Klaus gently tugged on Addie's uninjured wrist, turning her back to face him. He gave her a slightly sympathetic smile. "Really, Addie, all we know is that Stefan has your sister. We have no clue where or what he's doing. It's very likely that he's bluffing and won't kill her. Your friend Caroline will die without my blood; that is certain. I'm going to let you have the choice of which problem you want me to solve."

"Wh-? Choice? Why? Why can't you just solve both? I mean, I can see how the Elena situation would be a sacrifice for you but what is sending over a swig of your blood to Caroline?" Addie questioned, shaking her head in confusion.

"Stefan sees this as an opportunity to try and break me. I see it as a chance to teach you a lesson. In every single thing you do, you expect to save everyone. Consider this a chance to explore your priorities," suggested Klaus, a knowing grin in place.

She continued to shake her head, unable to comprehend. "What's wrong with wanting to save everyone? Are you completely incapable of understanding what a decent person is?"

He sighed loudly, "You really are so naive. The fact is that life sucks and you can't save everyone. Pick."

"So, I can say 'Elena' and you'll agree to get the hybrids out of town and we hope that Stefan just gives Elena back but don't really know however Caroline definitely dies or I can say 'Caroline' and she lives but Stefan stays angry about the hybrids and we still don't really know what happens to Elena?" fretted Addie, trying to understand her options.

Klaus sipped at the champagne and conversationally wondered, "What will you pick?"

Her eyes were wide and fearful as they turned to Damon imploringly. It really bothered him that she could comprehend the danger posed to those she loved and yet she didn't seem to have the inclination to worry over her own safety.

"He's bluffing. He's not going to let anything happen to your sister. You think he spent 1000 years trying to break a curse to create a couple dozen hybrids a be done with it?" Damon reassured Addie. While he was fairly confident of what he was saying, he kept his eyes fixed on Klaus, daring the bastard to contradict him. It was one thing when he toyed with Addie but what Klaus was doing was just plain cruel.

Klaus clicked his tongue in mock disappointment at Damon as he pulled out his ringing cellphone. He raised an expectant eyebrow at Addie and said breezily, "I trust you're not foolish enough to assume that I am bluffing. You're smart enough not to make the same mistake twice, aren't you?"

Addie shivered as she recalled the night Klaus complained about being hungry enough to eat an entire basketball team and the twelve high schoolers who'd been practicing that he used to make a point when she said he was exaggerating.

"Stefan, how nice to hear your voice," the Original drawled with exaggerated politeness as he answered the phone.

Addie froze as Stefan's voice over speakerphone cut through the small study, "Tell your hybrids to get out of town, Klaus."

His lips twitched into a smile as he looked at Addie. Her mouth fell open and closed repeatedly under the pressure of his stare. How was she supposed to do anything without condemning Caroline to death? Of course if she did nothing she could be doing the same to her sister.

"You hear me?" growled Stefan, cutting through the long silence.

"That's not gonna happen until I get my coffins back," Klaus snapped into the phone, glaring daggers at Addie.

Nonchalantly Stefan replied, "Ok, well then I'm gonna drive your blood source off Wickery Bridge."

Addie clasped her hand over her mouth but it was too late to muffle her squeal of terror.

Covering the speaker Klaus whispered cheekily, "Should I stop him now?" She nodded insistently but he shook his head and smirked. "I don't believe you. You won't kill her."

The blood drained from Addie's face as she realized Klaus was speaking to Stefan. Fear ran through her at the sound of a commotion on the other end of the line and her sister's cries of protest.

"What's going on?" Klaus demanded, an edge of uncertainty detectable in his voice.

"I just fed her my blood. No more hybrids if she's a vampire," Stefan retorted smugly.

"Stop him!" Addie hissed angrily.

Klaus pretended to briefly consider her words before telling the vampire with certainty, "You won't do it."

Stefan snorted humorlessly, "Really? Try me, because your coffins are next to go. Say goodbye to your family, Klaus."

At the sound of Elena's frantic screams at Stefan Addie covered her ears. She ignored the searing pain that radiated through her right arm at the sharp movement. Through the tears of agony and terror she yelled, "Stop him, Klaus! Just do what he says!"

Addie squeezed her eyes shut but after a moment, muffled by her hands, she could make out Klaus bellow, "Stop the car, Stefan!"

Then Damon's hands were on hers, gently pulling them away from her ears. Gently he folded her arms so that her left one and her stomach cradled her broken one. It broke his heart to see her in pain but he wasn't an idiot. He wasn't going to let her around Klaus with vampire blood in her system. The pads of thumbs wiped away the tears as he comforted her. "Elena's fine now."

"No," Addie croaked, her voice hoarse from crying, "she's still with him. She's not safe as long as she's with him. I need you to go get her."

"Alright," Damon agreed gently, placing a hand on her lower back to guide her to the door.

Addie shook her head as she emphasized, "I need _you_ to go, Damon."

Was she seriously implying that he leave her with Klaus? He snorted and applied more force behind his hand. "We'll go," he insisted.

"Go, Damon, please," she begged. "I need to know that she's ok."

"And I need to know that you're ok. Come on," persisted Damon.

"No offense but if Klaus had any intention of killing me in the immediate future you would hardly serve as the most useful of defense. He can kill you with a bite. Really, I'd be so focused on your safety that you'd be more of a liability," Addie snapped, growing impatient.

Klaus snickered, "She has a point, mate."

"You know, I wouldn't typically continue this with you if you want to be so annoying about it but in case you haven't noticed, you're down to one arm for defense. Somehow I think I'm a little more useful," Damon retorted.

She scowled at him. "The throbbing pain is a wonderful reminder of my arm situation, thank you. I'm also painfully aware of the fact that your brother just almost turned my sister into a vampire by running her off Wickery Bridge and she's _still_ with him. Would you please go make sure Elena is safe, Damon?"

He shook his head as he tugged uncomfortably at the gray striped tie. "I get how much you worry about your sister but no, your safety is priority for me. If it's between leaving you with Klaus or Elena with Stefan, there's no choice."

Looking towards Klaus Addie sighed helplessly, "Will you protect your human blood bag and tell him you have no interest in killing me tonight?"

"But perhaps I do," the hybrid smirked as he took a long drink of champagne.

Damon wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her so that he was partially concealing her.

"Oh, come on!" she exclaimed, trying to push Damon away with her shoulder. "Do you really want Elena out there with Stefan? Suppose he changes his mind and doesn't want to agree to a deal and just decides to turn her into a vampire to screw with you."

"I have no interest in harming Addison in any manner tonight. Is that good enough for her personal guard dog?" Klaus remarked boredly.

"I think you're forgetting which one of is part dog," spat Damon.

Addie groaned in frustration, "Will you just _go_? I am legitimately concerned about what your brother will do."

"Then come-"

"I have to talk to Klaus. I'll be home after that," she interrupted curtly, leaving no room for debate.

"Fine," he said slowly. The rage was just below the surface. "I'm going to get Elena and take her back to your house. If you're not there by the time I -"

"I will be," Addie quickly reassured him. Elena and Stefan had been all the way on the other edge of town; that was plenty of time. Hopefully. At Damon's doubtful frown she gave him an encouraging smile and repeated, "I'll be there."

"Alright." Aware of Klaus watching them Damon gently lifted her chin. His kiss was gentle but possessive. He didn't exactly know what the bastard wanted with Addie, whether his objective was her heart, her head, her body or her life but Klaus wasn't getting her. He swiftly brushed his lips against her forehead, murmured his expectation of seeing her at her house and left.

"He _is_ obnoxious," mused Klaus as the door latched behind Damon. "You think he'd figure out that you can defend yourself at this point."

"Do you think I'm stupid? I'm not foolish enough to believe I could defend myself against you. Your flattery will get you nowhere."

"You might not be able to defend yourself in the traditional sense but you don't make me want to rip your throat out. _Damon_ makes me want to rip your throat out… and his. Knowing when to shut up is a very valuable defense."

Addie managed to hide her snort in a cough. "I can see how Damon might make you want to rip his throat out or do anything to aggravate him."

The corners of his mouth twitched upwards but he continued to regard her impassively, otherwise. "I think Damon upsets you for different reasons than he upsets me. Why were you so adamant about talking to me?"

"I need you to cure Caroline."

Klaus frowned and shook his head. "That's not how the game works, Addison. You picked Elena."

"And now I'm saying I need you to save Caroline."

"I told you to pick one," he emphasized with his index finger held up. "You did. I already said you have to learn that you can't save everyone."

"Yeah, ok, I get that. You've made your point. Now, will you please heal Caroline?" she huffed impatiently.

He laughed, "You think I'm going to change my mind because you asked nicely? Maybe that works on Damon but I'm not him, darling."

Addie sighed, "It doesn't work on him either but I figured it was worth a shot. I thought that maybe you learned some manners or something since yesterday. Why does Caroline have to die?"

"Collateral damage."

"Collateral damage is, by definition, damage to an unintended target! Why the hell can't you just heal her and target the right person?" she scoffed in outrage.

Klaus considered her for a minute and shrugged. "By _technical_ definition. I'm playing fast and loose with the rules and considering the part that only applies to civilian casualties."

"Why? Why do there need to be any civilian casualties?"

"I needed a test subject."

"You don't run fatal tests on civilians! Cure Caroline and do whatever bullshit you want to me!"

He snorted, "What part of this being about you learning a lesson do you not understand?"

"You just said she was only collateral damage!" Addie cried.

"Point is you want to save her and you can't save everyone," Klaus chuckled darkly.

She closed her eyes and counted backwards from ten as she tried to keep from throwing a fit becoming of a two year old. Dealing with Klaus was just so aggravating. "Why not?"

"It's unrealistic."

"Ok, I understand that. If I understand that, why does Caroline have to die?"

"Because you made a choice between her and Elena. There is a consequence to every action."

"But-"

"Addison," Klaus said sharply, demanding full attention, "you're not saving Caroline. Nothing you say will convince me to give her my blood."

* * *

Addie bit her lip to keep from crying out as she slowly maneuvered her injured arm into the sleeve of her shirt. Her teeth cut through the tender flesh but she didn't notice if the tears fall any harder or faster. It was hard to keep track of what tears were from pain and which were from guilt over Caroline. The knocking at her bathroom door made her jump, jostle her arm and give a loud whimper of pain.

She'd heard Damon and Elena get back when she had been washing, a difficult task to do with only her left hand. Knowing who it would be Addie opened the door a crack as she struggled with getting her shirt the rest of the way up her arm.

"Whoa! Hey, hey, hey!" Damon interrupted, prying his old grey tee from her hand as she whimpered trying to pull it over her head. Addie looked at him incredulously as he stopped her and he gave her an equally ridiculous look back. "Why didn't you wait for me?"

Because he'd spent almost an hour talking to Elena and she'd gotten tired of waiting on him. Addie shook her head, sniffled, and sighed in frustration, "Can't you just help me put it on?"

He kissed her softly, pulling her lower lip between his and gently swiping at the blood where she had bit into it. Damon pulled away slowly, frowning. "I definitely don't like your blood like that," he murmured, running his thumb over the swollen flesh.

"Yes, I prefer not bleeding from my lip, too. Can you help with my shirt situation?" she huffed impatiently, uncomfortably aware of being just in her bra. It wasn't quite the same as when they were making out; she definitely didn't feel as confident.

"Uh, no." When Addie gave him a look of disbelief he quickly added, "I don't want to hurt you anymore. Here." Damon bit his wrist and held it out to her. "I wanted to heal you earlier but I didn't want Klaus getting any ideas about turning you into a vampire. He needs Elena human; you don't have that guarantee."

"I figured that," she mumbled. Awkwardly she took his hand and sucked at his wrist, his blood cool and metallic. Addie's eyes slipped shut in relief as the throbbing, searing pain just above her right wrist ebbed away. Quickly she tugged on the shirt so she could pull him into a tight embrace.

Damon held her close, gently raking her hair through his fingers. "I'm going to assume this means I don't need to do a double check to make sure you healed up right?" he teased as he felt her clutch the back of his shirt. She shook her head, burying her face into his shoulder. "Why'd you need to talk to Klaus?"

he asked, a sneaking suspicion already nagging at him. Addie gave a loud hiccuping gasp and shook her head again as she softly cried. Damon did the same thing in disgust. It wasn't just for Addie's safety that he hadn't wanted to leave her with Klaus. As much as he hated the bastard he had been right about one thing, Addie could be naive and had a tendency to believe she could save everyone. He was willing to bet that she had tried to convince Klaus to save Caroline. Clearly it hadn't worked. He could have saved her the trouble and told her that her efforts were futile. It didn't make him want to kill Klaus any less for making her cry.

Actually, it had been a very good thing that Stefan had left Elena at Wickery Bridge. Damon wasn't exactly sure just how far he would take things with his little brother. He knew in his pissing match with Klaus Stefan had managed to terrify his girlfriend and that pissed him off. It was breaking Addie's arm in his little stunt that really crossed the line and made Damon see red, though. Stefan might have managed to win a round against Klaus and be the better villain but it wasn't at a price he was willing to pay. Long-term, Klaus was likely the greater danger to Addie but he seemed to want her alive, at least for the moment. Short-term, Damon couldn't predict what Stefan was going to do and he had already injured Addie once. Perhaps it was time to consider letting Klaus have the coffins back if it meant keeping her safe. He wasn't going to let Stefan keep acting in such a reckless manner. Damon needed to take action against his brother.

"Come on," Damon whispered, easily lifting her. He quickly turned off the lifts before carrying her to her bed. He tried to lay her down but she clung to him, still sobbing into his shoulder. He toed off his shoes so that he could climb in with her. It was difficult with Addie attached to him like a leech but he eventually managed to tuck the blanket around them. Until early hours of the morning he alternated between comforting, soothing noises and just letting her sob. It caused a pain in his chest to see her feel so guilty over Caroline. He didn't dare argue with her, though. If he pointed out that she wasn't the one who bit Caroline or had the magic, cure-all blood Addie would just counter with the fact that she had the option of saving Caroline. He knew she was undoubtedly rationalizing whether or not anything would have happened to Elena if she had said nothing, if she had saved Caroline. Arguing that she had made the right choice based on love or the simple fact that Elena was her sister wouldn't make a difference.

* * *

 **A/N: Short chapter - I know, I'm sorry! It only covered half an episode so it ended up being half the usual length. I didn't want to combine it with the next chapter, which is very long, because that would mean missing another week of updates. I promise to make up for it in the next installment!**

 **Thank you so much to everyone who has followed, favorited, and reviewed!**


	15. Chapter 14

Metal teeth of a zipper painfully digged into Addie's cheek as she pushed into her unyielding pillow. She grimaced painfully but only pulled the blankets over her head in an effort to block out the incessant beeping coming from her alarm clock. When her pillow shifted and the noise stopped she grumbled appreciatively.

Damon's chest rumbled beneath her cheek as he spoke low and sleepy, "Gotta get up, Ads."

"No," she whined, stretching against him. It was always a stiff and uncomfortable morning when she woke up in jeans and a bra; the only part of her pajamas Addie had made it into the previous night was one of his old shirts.

"Mhm. You have to tell your brother bye," insisted Damon.

Addie shook her head, ignoring the irritating brush of his jacket zipper and mumbled, "Clock's set two hours early for that."

"I changed it when you didn't fall asleep until about three," he corrected. "You gotta get up now."

"You suck," she moaned, rolling away from him and shoving her face into an actual pillow.

"I know," Damon agreed as if he was placating a pouty child. "It's my fault that time passes." He kissed the back of her head and gently rubbed her back. "Come on. Get up so I know I can go without risking you falling back asleep and missing out on saying goodbye to Jeremy."

Addie frowned into the bundle of squishy cotton as she muttered thickly, "I don't want you to go."

His lips pursed as he could tell she was fighting not to cry. "I'll be back soon if you want. I need to go home and shower, eat, make sure Stefan or Klaus hasn't destroyed my house, you know, basic things like that."

"Fine," she elongated reluctantly, sniffling slightly.

"You can't keep dwelling over Caroline, Ads."

"You think she's still alive?" whispered Addie, just loud enough for his sensitive hearing to catch.

Damon shook his head in exasperation and ran his hand through his hair. He loved his girlfriend more than anything but she could be really headstrong. "You can't make Klaus change his mind, love."

"I know. I was thinking about seeing her."

He hesitated and exhaled slowly. "That's not… I don't know if that's such a good idea. Rose killed someone when she was bit. I fed on your sister. Caroline's going on a bad acid trip and that's hazardous to you."

"It took awhile for you to start losing your mind. Besides, you eventually regained your sense. She could be fine," Addie insisted, facing him with red-rimmed eyes and a flushed face.

"Or she could not be and you could get seriously hurt. Would you consider your own safety for once?" he pleaded, gently cupping her face. He didn't want to see her cry again.

Scowling, she pushed away from Damon and rolled out of bed. "Shouldn't you be more concerned about how emotionally fucked up I'll be if I lose another person without getting a chance to say goodbye," she snapped as she wandered over to her desk.

"You'll figure out some way to pin Caroline's death on Elena and your resentment of your sister will simply fester. Really, you've already got so many issues from losing your family that I don't imagine it will get _that_ much worse," he informed her as he put on his shoes. "The important part that I'm actually concerned about is whether or not you'll be alive to become more screwed up."

"Your loving, thoughtful care is astounding," Addie bit back sardonically as she checked her phone. Her grip tightened on the device until her knuckles turned white as she stared at the screen. Accusatorially she asked, "Did you hear my phone go off last night?"

"Yes."

"Well why didn't you tell me? Or check it?" she snapped.

He raised a lazy, disbelieving eyebrow at her. "Seriously? Because my loving, thoughtful care is astounding and I thought comforting you as you sobbed was more important than playing secretary," he retorted curtly.

"Well, if you had, I wouldn't have been crying," hissed Addie, shoving the phone in his face.

Damon's brows furrowed in confusion as he read and re-read the text message from Matt Donovan. "Klaus cured Caroline?"

"Apparently."

"And you're getting pissy at me why, exactly?"

She shook her head, not really sure. Caroline was safe; Klaus had done what she had wanted. So why was she so angry? Addie huffed, sinking next to Damon on the bed, "Why would he do that? Why would he be so adamant about not healing her and teaching me a lesson only to go ahead and heal her?"

"Damn if I know," Damon muttered. His problem with Stefan was that he was becoming too unpredictable with regards to Addie's safety. Klaus was suppose to be predictable, insane but predictable. He might not be interested in hurting Addie but if he was interested in screwing with her and playing mind games Damon wasn't sure working semi-adjacent to him was reasonable.

* * *

"I've been having these dreams for days now. It's like the witches are trying to send me a message," Bonnie explained as she had the spirits reveal the four coffins to Elena and Addie.

"Personally, I'm just glad a bunch of dead witch spirits are haunting you and this place again," Addie muttered as she eyed the coffins impassively. She wasn't surprised that the coffins had been hiding in plain sight. Damon had been arrogantly confident of their safety and for once he had earned the right to be. The only mildly shocking thing was that Bonnie had been roped into Damon and Stefan's plan.

Bonnie rolled her eyes and scoffed, "Weren't you crying when the town was infested with ghost?"

" _Yeah_ , ghost that were killing people. And this place was like ten times creepier without the witches. They make it, like, light and safe," Addie countered as if it were obvious.

"I can't believe that you guys kept this from me this whole time," Elena said in wonder, running her hand along the top of one of the large wooden caskets.

The witch gave her a small smile and an apologetic shrug. "Stefan thought, if you knew where the coffins were, Klaus could threaten people to get the information out of you."

Addie's head slightly bobbed from side to side as she considered this and eventually concluded, "Valid concern." Elena glowered at her but Addie just smiled sweetly.

"So, these are the rest of his family?"

"No, Elena, he's been bitching about getting four empty coffins back. We have no idea why he thinks Stefan has his family," Addie answered sarcastically.

"Has anyone ever told you how obnoxious you are?" her sister sneered.

"It's one of my most valued traits."

Bonnie shook her head in exasperation as she moved to the coffin at the front. "You're both annoying. Those three," she said, pointing to the boxes by the sisters, "have Elijah and two others. This one… is the one we can't open. We don't know who is in it, or what's in it, only that I think my dream's telling me it'll help us kill Klaus."

Addie looked to the roof helplessly. Again they were about to jump on the untrollable train where the only stop was Klaus' funeral. After he screwed with her about not healing Caroline she was slightly more inclined to believe that the only solution was to kill him. But it was really more Stefan that was keeping everyone from living a civilized, semi-normal life.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Think of the rebellious, crazed vampire and he will appear. Addie spaced out as she heard Stefan and Elena start to bicker. It was unfortunate that Stefan's increase in rationality came at the price of his humanity. From a strategic standpoint he was wise to not involve Elena in as little as possible and wield her as a weapon against Klaus. There were ways he could play smart and compassionately if he wanted to. She wondered about Damon's dimmer theory on Stefan's humanity and how much control he had over it.

At the sound of Bonnie saying her name Addie tuned back into her conversation.

"Addie and Elena to help me find her," Bonnie finished firmly.

"Find who?" Addie and Stefan asked simultaneously. She should have been paying attention. It seemed she had gone and gotten herself drafted for another crazy task.

"I couldn't place her face at first. Then I realized."

Bonnie pulled a photo out of her pocket and showed it to Addie. Stefan and Elena looked over her shoulder curiously. It took Addie several seconds to register that the woman and the little girl on a rope swing in the picture were Bonnie and her mother. It was a struggle for Addie to keep from groaning out loud. She had enough mommy issues of her own to deal with. Taking on Bonnie's wasn't an appealing option.

* * *

Bonnie, Elena and Addie sat around the Gilbert's kitchen table, each with a pile of papers documents someone who had driver's license or identification card issued to them under the name of of "Abigail Bennett" or some variation of that.

"Los Alamitos?" Elena asked as she passed Bonnie the photo and information of a woman with long, dark hair, a narrow nose and beady eyes.

After checking the woman's date of birth, the witch placed the paper in the ever growing mound of woman they had discard as options for one reason or another. At her friend's questioning look she explained, "Too old?"

"Honolulu?" said Elena hopefully, giving Bonnie another woman to review.

"I wish," she muttered, discarding the woman because of her green eyes. Her mother had beautiful brown eyes the color of honey; it was one of the few things she clearly remembered about her. Looking between the sizeable stack in Elena's hand and the enormous heap Addie was working on sorting she wondered, "How many of these are there."

"Too many. There are at least 100 people that are just 'Abigail Bennett.' I haven't even gotten to the people with Bennett as a first last name or have Abigail as a middle name," Addie snapped bitterly, her voice slightly rough from lack of use. She was hardly as enthusiastic or as hopeful about their search as the other to and had only gone along with it to avoid fighting until her actual plan came together. "Elena, next time you ask the sheriff's office to pull up every single person in the country with a name try eliminating as many people as possible by using variables we already know. The vast majority of these women are not even African American. You could have knocked out everyone under 30 or over 50, also. We also have a vague physical description you could have used for parameters."

Elena glared at her little sister as she snatched the possibilities from and sneered, "If you're so smart, _you_ go and get the the names next time."

"I have no intention of ever doing this again," muttered Addie as she quickly shifted through the women by raced. Bonnie and Elena could look at the finer details. Really, she was only helping to show Bonnie her support. Addie knew the method was futile and ridiculous and that was why she had taken matters into her own hands.

Bonnie never thought she'd rather see Addie bicker with Damon; at least with him they never ended up personally attacking each other. Addie had been far bitchier with her sister since she moved back home. Seeing Elena about to say something back Bonnie quickly jumped in. "It's surreal having to track down woman who bailed on her own kid."

"You know, you don't have to, right? Let Stefan obsess over opening up the coffin. It doesn't have to be you," comforted Elena. Bonnie mentally patted herself on the back for her distraction technique.

"The coffins is spelled shut. That makes it a witch problem, so it does fall on me. I was bound to see my mother again sooner or later."

"I think you're missing the most obvious and rational choice of never seeing her," Addie mumbled, setting two possible matches near her sister.

Quietly and suddenly appearing, Damon snorted humorlessly as he sat on the bench next to Addie, intentionally nudging her knee with his. "Or, she could, I don't know, do what an sane person would do and resolve her mommy issues sooner rather than… well, at whatever point it takes to reach your level of anger."

Addie's eyes narrowed at him as she scowled, "Go away."

"Fine," Damon shrugged. He dangled the manilla folder he had brought with him in front of her face tauntingly as he continued, "I'll just take the information you asked for and go." Smirking, Damon quickly moved it out of her reach when she tried to grab it. "I suppose you do want my help," he snickered. Opening the folder he pretended to read off the facts that he had already memorized, "Abby Bennett Wilson. Monroe, North Carolina. Born in Mystic Falls Hospital. Graduated at Mystic Falls High. Blah, blah, blah." He tossed the folder to Bonnie who was looking at him in confusion, wondering how he knew what they were doing. He jerked his head towards Addie in explanation. "She figured a little compulsion would help speed up the research process. Plus she said please, so I figured if it was important enough for her to agree to compulsion and ask _me_ to help _nicely_ it was probably pretty important."

"Shut. Up."

Bonnie looked up from the folder, her eyes wide as she whispered in a mixture of anxiety and amazement, "This is her."

"Yep! Road trip. I call shotgun!" Damon said brightly, clapping his hands once enthusiastically.

"Ha! No," scoffed Addie.

He waggled his eyebrows and suggestively asked, "Want me to hang out in the back with you?"

She pointed a stern finger in his face and declared, "You're not going, Damon."

"Why? I'm the one who found her."

Addie crossed her arms and gave him a look that clearly questioned if he was seriously whining like a three-year-old. When he continued to pout at her she sighed and rolled her eyes impatiently. "Bonnie is going to see her mom for the first time in over fifteen years. Your snarky commentary is not going to make the experience any more pleasant. _I'm_ not even going!"

"You're not?" Bonnie and Damon asked simultaneously.

She gave her friend a strained, apologetic, smile as she tried to explain, "It's just too… gooey for me. Bon, I hate your mom for walking out on you. She doesn't deserve to see you. It's selfish but I can't be happy for you if she's getting something out of this meeting, which if she's smart, she'll realize she's getting the chance to reconnect with you. If she's an idiot and doesn't realize, well… that's going to hurt you and Elena's better at comforting than I am."

"That's perfect," said Damon, before Bonnie could respond, "because you and I have work we need to do here that is of a very dry and crumbly nature, not gooey."

"Uh, what?" she asked blankly, crossing her arms and staring up at him.

Damon mirrored her closed off gestured but sat up taller so he was slightly looking down at her. He coolly repeated, "We have work to do. _Things to discuss._ "

"What's going on with you two? You're being weird. Well, weirder than usual." Elena demanded, distracting them both from the tense silence that developed as they stared at each other. It was the first time she had seen them together since the night Damon had tried to kill Klaus. Addie had started staying at home the next day.

He shrugged, standing up. "We broke up. We kissed. Now it's weird. " Damon gave a wave over his shoulder as he walked away, "Have a great trip."

As soon as the door shut behind him Elena chastised her sister, "You cannot do that, Addie! You cannot go there again."

"Go where?" she asked innocently.

"Back to Damon!"

Bonnie nodded in agreement, "She's right, Addie. He can be… charming and I can see how you got swept up in the first place but you learned your lesson."

"It was a slip," she lied. "It's not like I agreed to marry him. He crushed my heart when we broke up. I'd be stupid to go back to him." Only Klaus had been the one responsible for their break up. Addie didn't really blame Damon for hurting her. In fact, she was pretty sure he'd go out of the way to make sure she didn't get hurt.

Elena studied her sister curiously. She knew Addie had a panic attack because of what Damon had said but she never really got the full story behind that. "Is that why you moved back home? You kissed him?"

"Yep," Addie answered quickly as she nodded insistently, latching onto the idea. "I mean we were doing the friendship thing pretty well but, I don't know. Damon was just really upset from not killing Klaus and Stefan betraying him and we just kind of slipped. I moved back home to keep some distance between us and help me keep perspective on why I shouldn't be with him."

"Well, keep that perspective. Damon's hurt you before and if you go back to him that's all that will happen again," her sister warned.

Addie eyed Elena suspiciously before deciding she wasn't worth the stress and mumbling, "I know. I'm not stupid."

* * *

After climbing through it, Damon quietly closed Addie's window. In his defense, he had been knocking at the front door for a solid five minutes and had tried calling her several times. He had tried to talk to her as soon as Elena and Bonnie left for North Carolina but she had turned him away, insisting that she needed the next three hours to take a practice PSAT exam. So he'd returned exactly three hours later. Addie looked like she was done as she looked between a sheet with a bunch of circles filled in and the back of a college prep book, occasionally making marks on the sheet.

"How'd you do?" he asked, sitting on her bed.

Addie jumped at the sound of his voice, losing track of what number she was checking. Tucking her answer sheet inside of the book, she turned her chair towards Damon and scowled, "Don't you know how to knock like a normal person?"

"Tried that. You didn't answer," he answered dismissively. Abruptly his face darkened as he changed the subject. "Have you met Alaric's new girlfriend?"

"Wasn't aware he had one," Addie said slowly. She wasn't sure how she felt about Alaric dating if he was still staying with them because he felt closer to Jenna at the house. If he had moved on, then it really was her history teacher just trying to play the role of guardian and that was weird.

"Well, he'll dump her if he wants to live. Though he'll have to be careful about it. Girl's a complete psycho case."

Addie frowned; she didn't really trust the judgment of a person being psycho when it came from the biggest psycho. "I'm going to need you to elaborate on that."

"Her ex-boyfriend, the medical examiner, turned up dead, staked like a vampire. Thi was right after he called her a psycho, mind you. She signed the death certificate with cause of death as 'animal attack.' I confronted her about it and she had absolutely no reaction to his death; it was like she didn't even care. Not to mention the biggest red flag, the good doctor vervained me and hijacked my blood!" exclaimed Damon, ticking each item off on his finger.

"You're losing your edge if you let some girl get the jump on you," snickered Addie.

"I'm not losing anything! I wasn't expecting to be attacked!"

Addie snorted and patronizingly explained, "That's why I said she got the jump on you. The old Damon would have been expecting an attack from anyone at any moment. Your guard was always up. You would have been hyper vigilant around someone you expected of staking their ex like a vampire."

His eyes narrowed as he growled, "Are you saying I'm going soft?"

She held up her hands innocently. "You said it, not me."

"Yeah but that's what you were implying, wasn't?"

"No."

"Then what were you saying?" Damon demanded defensively

Sighing Addie tossed the pencil she had been twirling between her fingers onto her desk in an annoyance. He could be so temperamental. "I wasn't saying anything, Damon. I was just making an observation."

"Of course you were."

"I was. Why are you here? What do you want?" she asked, hoping to get him onto a more neutral topic.

"Now that you know where the coffins are, do you plan on telling Klaus?" he asked bluntly, getting straight to the point. Beating around the bush would be useless. The only chance he'd have of getting a direct answer from Addie was if he was direct with her.

Evasively she answered, "We agreed to discuss plans before acting on them."

Damon scoffed dryly, "Yeah. Since when have either one of us exactly adhered to what we said without finding some kind of loophole or something?"

"Fair enough."

"So what do you plan on doing"

"Haven't really thought about it. I only found out where they were this morning and I've been kind of occupied since then," she shrugged. Addie knew she wanted to simply tell Klaus where the coffins were because she didn't want him hurting anybody else but she was worried about how Stefan would retaliate if she did that.

"You must have some idea. You're Addie; you always have a plan," Damon pushed. He wanted to hear her opinion before he proposed his idea and sounded completely insane.

Addie took a deep breath as she concentrated on her fingers steepled in front of her. Quietly she confessed, "I don't trust Stefan. He could have really hurt Matt when he was abducting Elena and I'm still not convinced he wouldn't have driven Elena off that bridge."

"I don't trust him either, not after he hurt you," agreed Damon when it was clear that she wasn't going to continue. "But I also don't trust Klaus."

"It's a game of picking the lesser of two villains," she muttered.

He nodded. "The question is who do you pick?"

"The problem is that there's no way to keep Stefan in check if his humanity switch is fried."

"Not fried, just just on a pendulum swing between on and off," he corrected. "I'm telling you it's vampire puberty. He's like a moody teenager with his moods going from apathetic to irrationally intense."

Addie huffed with annoyance as she dramatically rolled her eyes at Damon. "Couldn't it just be that he's stuck with the emotional mentality of a seventeen-year-old? I mean, there is one giant flaw with your whole vampire puberty theory."

"What's that?"

"In vampire years, you and Stefan are technically the same age but _you're_ not acting batshit crazy."

Damon couldn't help but laughing. Mediums were not exactly his girlfriend's strong point. Addie was either painfully obvious or so subtle and evasive that one completely missed her point.

"I'm not," he conceded, "but that probably has something to do with the fact that I had my humanity turned off for forty years and acted batshit crazy all that time. You know, puberty isn't always a time for people to act out. I'm referencing it more in a manner as a time when people grow up."

"And you want to argue that you're growing up?" Addie scoffed.

"Addie, I'm in a sexless, monogamous relationship with a girl, who I genuinely love. And I'm very, very happy. That's something completely novel for me. I would have to argue that it's a stepping stone towards maturity," Damon reasoned. "Plus, like I said before, I think the main focus is on humanity. I'm more connected to my humanity than I've ever been. Stefan's was ordered to shut off his humanity but how does he do that if the switch doesn't function properly? He shoved out his humanity but it's trying to force it's way in."

Her brows knitted together as she frowned. "Whether or not any humanity is getting through."

"I could see how that's… questionable. But ultimately you're right; as of right now I don't know of a way to keep my brother in check. He's a danger to you and that's not something I'm going to tolerate," Damon stated firmly.

Giving him a pained smile Addie moved to sit next to Damon on the bed. She took his hand and moved his arm so that it was draped around her shoulders, leaning into him. "You're sweet, Damon. He's your brother, though. What are you going to do? Lock him in the cellar until I die? Remembering going rogue and busting him out of the old jail cell when Elena had him in there in attempts to rehabilitate him?"

"That was different. He had a drinking problem; you were perfectly safe as he knew he couldn't drink you. Now he's… a male Akasha," he scoffed. Addie looked up at him in confusion. "Anne Rice? The Vampire Chronicles?"

She shook her head slowly. "No idea what you're talking about."

"Come on! _The Queen of the Damned!_ 'You think you can change my will? I've had enough of this discussion. Join me or die!'" Damon said in a frustrated, feminine voice, obviously imitating the character.

"Uh...my literary vampire knowledge is limited to knowing that Dracula's powers cease during the day and Edward Cullen sparkles in the sun."

"Yeah, well, we live in the real world where vampires burn in the sun."

Addie's lips twitched at how bitter he sounded; she knew he hated the glamorization of the vampire that came with the _Twilight_ craze. She took his hand from rubbing up and down her arm and held it in front of her. With a slight tug the ornate ring slipped from his middle finger.

"Now you'd burn in the sun," she grinned cheekily up at him. Her smile faltered when she realized his lips were pressed into a hard, thin line and there was no amusement in his eyes. "I'd never actually take your ring, Damon," Addie said softly as she guiltily returned it to him and tried to move out from under his arm.

"I know. I wouldn't have let you take it off if I thought you wouldn't return it," muttered Damon, keeping his arm around her as he put the ring back on and kissed her temple.

She grinned, glad that he wasn't mad and rested her head on his shoulder. "Well, I did briefly consider keeping it for a little while. Just for the rest of the day, you know? Holding you hostage in my room until nightfall," she teased.

"Hmm. Maybe I wouldn't mind letting you borrow my ring. I could use a convenient excuse just to spend all my time with you," he consented. He gently tilted her head up to chastely kiss her. Addie pressed her lips more firmly against his but Damon pulled away. She pouted slightly and he chuckled, "Sorry, love, but we actually were having an important conversation before we were sidetracked by vampires of literature."

"Right," she sighed dramatically. "Stefan is some great supervillain now."

"No, he just thinks he is, which makes him even more dangerous. A great supervillain plays smart. Stefan is playing reckless. In his recklessness, he's lost his greatest ally," Damon explained.

Addie's brows furrowed as she hesitantly asked, "What exactly are you saying?"

"Your safety isn't a concern to Stefan. He proved that when he broke your arm. I'm not going to stand by Stefan and support him anymore."

"Again, I'm back to asking what are you going to do?"

"We said we'd discuss it before taking any action. What do you think I should do?" deflected Damon, still trying to hear her ideas in hopes that his own didn't sound completely irrational.

She shrugged and shook her head. "I don't know. He's not my brother."

"Say he was your brother."

"Then you would also be my brother and this," she motioned between the two of them, "would be really wrong."

"Addie."

"And I would have died about a hundred years ago because I never would have turned into a vampire trying to save Katherine."

"Ok. You can either seriously discuss this with me and have some say in what I'm going to do or you can keep avoiding the topic and not complain when I don't handle it the way you want," snapped Damon, growing impatient.

"Let's face it, Damon. You already know exactly what you're going to do. Discussing it with me is just a formality. Even if I don't like it, you're still going to do it. We agreed to _discuss_ ; we never agreed to only make actions we both agree on. Now, if I stick to the avoiding then we will never have the conversation where I tell you how much I disapprove of your idea but you go off and do it, completely ignoring my opinion. I just don't see why we should act like there is sense of respect when there really isn't," Addie reasoned, scooting away from him.

He ran a hand through his hair, cursing under his breath. "You frustrate the hell out of me, you know? Just because I've done some things you haven't agreed with in the past - "

Bitterly she interrupted, "After you promised _not_ to do them, only to wind up dying from a werewolf bite."

"Doesn't mean I'm not making a genuine attempt to change, Addie. Aren't you the one always arguing that you should have some say in your protection? That's what I'm trying to do here. I don't want to do something extremely stupid, like drugging you, thinking it's in your best interest only to completely fuck everything up again," Damon explained sharply. "So do you want a say or not?"

"You're serious?"

"Yes."

Addie nodded slowly, taken aback at Damon's honesty and willingness to compromise. "Thank you," she said in a small voice.

"You shouldn't have to thank me for showing you the respect you've deserved all along. What would you do about Stefan?" he asked slowly, refocusing her and trying to regain his cool.

"A big problem is that Stefan has too much power," Addie shrugged.

Damon nodded in agreement and prodded, "What do you think should be done about that?"

"I don't know. Taking away his power means it has to go somewhere. The only reason Stefan has power is because he has the coffins. You take away the coffins and he's powerless again. But he's completely irrational right now and if _you_ have the coffins, if _you_ take them from him, he's going to retaliate against you."

"That's what I've been thinking," he muttered. "And he knows the most effective way to do that is to go after you."

"So you know the only person powerful enough that Stefan can't retaliate against," she whispered, grasping one of his hands that he was glaring at.

A low growl from deep in his throat could be interpreted as a yes. Damon laced his fingers with hers and gently squeezed. "Returning power to him is not an option. I don't approve of how he did it but Stefan beat Klaus when he forced him to make the hybrids leave town. We can't just let Klaus have free rule."

Addie rolled her eyes. "Do you have an idea or not?"

He highly doubted Addie was going to see redoing the deed to both his house and hers to keep out Stefan while he hid the coffins from his brother and the Original bastard. She would definitely have a problem with him fending off advances from both as he searched for a way to kill Klaus. It would be a lot to handle, especially if he was keeping her on lockdown.

"Not a good one. I'm trying to see if you have a better one."

"Better is a relative term," she giggled, laughing at something only she knew.

"What are you thinking?"

"Let me finish before you say I'm crazy," Addie warned with a wary smile. "What if we keep the locked coffin and Elijah and give the other two back to Klaus? Bonnie is working on opening the one and she thinks whatever is in it will help kill Klaus. In the meantime, if Klaus acts up, we can still threaten him with dropping Elijah in the ocean."

Damon carefully maintained a mask of neutrality until she looked at him expectantly and nudged him with her knee. He took a deep breath and said, "You're crazy."

"Oh, come on!"

"Really, Addie, you _knew_ I was going to say that. Have you considered that when Klaus gets his two brothers back he's going to undagger them and we're going to have two more Originals to deal with and no more daggers?" he pointed out.

She shook her head insistently. "That won't happen. Have you seen Rebekah running around? He still has her daggered!"

"Because she's a threat to Elena! His brothers don't have a beef with her; he has no reason to keep them daggered."

"He does if we drop Elijah in the ocean if he undaggers them," she shrugged coolly.

Damon scoffed and rolled his eyes, "And how many times do you think we're going to be able to use that line against him?"

"How long would someone be able to use Stefan's life against you?"

"You know, I _really_ don't like being blackmailed and I'm really impatient and he has already lived practically 170 years and he's kinda been a total dick lately," he considered and eventually concluded, "This would be a much more effective example if we replaced Stefan's life with your life."

"Ok, sure. Let's just call up Klaus' girlfriend and use her against him," Addie bit back sarcastically. "I'm being serious, Damon!"

A shadow crossed over Damon's face as a dark thought crept up on him. He saw the way Klaus interacted with Addie and it wasn't in the manner of an enemy or a friend. It uncomfortably reminded him of how he had acted around her when he first discovered his feelings for her but Klaus played more mind games and there was an iciness Damon didn't recall having. There was an undeniable attachment between Klaus and Addie, though, at least on Klaus' end. She wasn't exactly Klaus' girlfriend but perhaps using her against him wasn't such an outlandish idea.

"We could probably manage to control Klaus long enough for Bonnie to open the other coffin," he conceded. "There's another problem, however. Stefan's going to retaliate for us returning part of Klaus' family."

Addie's lips pursed in thought. Slowly she asked, "How reasonable do you think your brother is?"

He snorted derisively, "Right now? Less reasonable than me at my worse."

"So you probably couldn't convince him that he still has full control over Klaus as long as he has the two coffins?"

"No."

"Honestly, do you think Stefan would have driven Elena off the bridge?"

Damon nodded certainly, "His humanity kept him from outright killing her. That's how I know he still has it. Part of him still loves her."

"So if your brother understands the idea of love and humanity, does he understand sympathy?"

"Why?" he asked skeptically.

She shrugged and innocently said, "I'm sure if Klaus had to tell a little white lie about threatening my life if you didn't return his family in order to get half of it back, he'd be willing to do that."

"I don't like giving Klaus any ideas about threatening your life. He might figure out that it's a good idea and then we'll have to give him all the coffins."

"You'd do that? Even knowing the one can help you kill Klaus?"

"Addie, I love you. There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you. The only reason I care about killing him is because he's a threat to you. Well, I mean I want to kill him for screwing up my brother, too, but I could possibly let that go if it wasn't for you," he amended with a slight grin.

She half laughed, half groaned as she flopped back on her bed. "Have you ever noticed how much time you spend protecting me?"

"You do make it a full time job," he grinned, resting on his elbow next to her.

"Do you have any way of explaining two missing coffins or do you already know that your idea is better?"

"If we can keep Stefan from trying to kill you over them, I think your plan may be better," admitted Damon.

Blushing, Addie put a hand to her heart, quickly fluttered her lashes at him and in a Southern accent drawled, "Why, Mr. Salvatore! Bless my heart!"

"It's that Southern boy charm," he winked, speaking in a similar accent. He leaned in close enough for her to feel his breath shift the air just above her lips and murmured, "That's a mighty fine blush, Ms. Gilbert."

A day's worth of stubble tickled her palm as Addie rested her hand on his cheek, pulling him in to close the distance between them. Damon made a soft noise of pleasurable agreement, pushing his fingers into her hair and deepening the kiss.

Abruptly she turned her cheek to him and asked, "What if Klaus threatened to kill you?"

"Huh?"

"If Stefan's humanity is in there then he doesn't _really_ want you dead, even if he says he does. Say Klaus threatened to kill you if I didn't get him back the coffins. He can't threaten you because Stefan will just get mad at you for not sacrificing yourself. But I'm weak; I can crack under Klaus' pressure. Now, Stefan might want to retaliate against me but he can't because you're stronger and smarter and, just for the argument of keeping me alive, we'll say you'll kill him if he kills me," Addie explained excitedly.

He shook his head, running his fingers through his hair in slight frustration. It was like she chose to go off topic when he wanted to discuss something and finally decided to pay attention when he was ready to drop it. He really questioned if she did it on purpose sometimes.

"I think I'm a little put off at the fact that you were thinking about my brother and Klaus while kissing me," he quipped as he mulled over her idea.

She rolled her eyes and smirked, "If it helps, I also think about Robert Downey, Jr., and Christian Bale. Really, while kissing you I'm fantasizing epic battles between the two ultimate superheros. My mind is like Batman versus Ironman: Wealth, Weapons, and War."

Damon blinked at her, uncertain of whether or not she was joking with how quick she had been to respond.

"I'm kidding!" she exclaimed. "Sort of. I mean, I totally fantasize a Batman/Ironman showdown but I tend to do that more when I'm going to sleep, not when I'm kissing you."

"You know those nerds the cool kids give wedgies to?"

"Yeah," Addie said slowly, taken aback by his randomness.

"You are definitely one of them and I am definitely on of the cool kids. Except instead of giving wedgies, we've ended up sharing a bed."

"I could totally give you a wedgie."

He scoffed and shook his head, "I don't think so. Then the scenario would be all screwed up; the nerd doesn't give the cool kid a wedgie." Addie couldn't help bursting into a fit of bubbly giggles. Just the sound made Damon feel less stressed. With a contagious smile on his face he demanded, "What?"

"While - While wedgies and cooties may have been appropriate topics to discuss with my brother when I was ten, I highly doubt they would be considered appropriate to discuss with my boyfriend," she managed between gasps for air.

"Cooties? We've never had the cooties talk. You should probably know that I've never been checked for cooties," Damon said very gravely.

Addie covered her mouth, laughing so hard and silent that tears began to fall. "That's, uh, that's pretty bad, Damon, because you _definitely_ have them, Luckily there's a cure," she managed, wiping at her eyes. "Circle, circle," she said as she drew one on his left cheek and a matching one on his right. "Dot, dot," she giggle, poking each cheek inside the invisible circle. "Now you've got the cooties shot!"

"That's it?"

She nodded happily. "Mhmm."

Damon smiled down at her. This giggly, goofy, giddy side of Addie was a side that he so rarely saw that it would often only reappear just as he was beginning to forget it ever existed. She was always so serious and mature but then she would go and surprise him by laughing at wedgies and cooties like a kid and he was acutely reminded she was barely past sixteen. Like this she was so innocent and carefree. He had to wonder if she wasn't involved with him, how much would she be effected by Elena being the doppelganger? When Addie had wanted nothing to do with the supernatural, she had been extremely effective at staying away from it. Would he have compelled her away as he had done Jeremy? Would that have been better for her? Addie was smart and talented and driven and destined for great things if allowed to reach her full potential. Was he wrong in being with her? Should he let her be a normal teen whose biggest concern was the big track meet on Friday and the PSAT on Saturday?

"What's wrong?" Addie questioned. She kissed the inside of his hand cupping her cheek.

"Nothing."

She raised her eyebrows questioningly at him. "Really? Because you just became all sullen and broody."

"I was just thinking about your idea. Even if you did it to save me, Stefan still might retaliate against you. I don't like the idea of him possibly coming after you. However, I would at least know what the hell he's thinking. Right now I have no idea what's going on in his head and that leaves you in jeopardy," Damon sighed heavily.

"So yes? No? You don't know?"

"You understand that this would put you at increased risk from Stefan so you would understand if I wanted to keep a better eye on you, right?" he said gently, trying to keep calm and reasonable.

She exhaled loudly, "Is that what it's going to take to get you to agree to this?"

"I'm still thinking it through. It's one condition," he muttered.

"Fine."

"How'd you move the coffins on your own?"

"What?"

"Say Stefan asks how you managed to move the coffins. We're only giving two coffins to Klaus, which we'll have to explain away, as well, but the point is that you have to move two of the coffins from the witch house. How do you do it?" Damon challenged.

Addie's eyebrows furrowed. "I don't see why I have to move the coffins. The witch spirits can show and hide the coffins at will but Klaus doesn't know that. Why can't they just show two coffins and we tell Klaus that you and I moved them there from where Stefan was hiding them."

He groaned skeptically, "The witches only stopped screwing with my ring when Stefan looped me in on his plan on hiding the coffins. I'm not sure they'll just offer two up to Klaus."

" _Fine_ ," she huffed again. "Bonnie helped me move the coffins. She can just make Stefan's head explode if he goes after her. You do realize that Stefan would never know whether or not the spirits agreed to play along, right?"

"Why did we only give Klaus two coffins?"

"Why am I bringing everything to the table for this plan? I don't know!" Addie grumbled, bored by the conversation.

"Because you know Klaus better. Why would he not kill me when he only got two of the coffins?" pressed Damon.

She sighed, tracing a finger up and down his arm. "Do you think Klaus would bargain your life in exchange for two boxes with me because if he tried to bargain your life with Stefan he wouldn't get any of his family?"

"Wait, Stefan would let me die before giving Klaus anyone but you would give Klaus two people to save me?" Damon clarified.

"We just have to tell Stefan that's what Klaus believed."

"And convince Klaus to be our puppet."

"Which he will be if he wants anyone back," Addie said confidently.

"But why would you only give two and not four to save me?" he asked slightly wounded.

She laughed slightly, brushing the hair out of his face. "I would give everyone back for you. However, you're a stubborn idiot and you'd only tell me the location of two coffins."

"That sounds like something I might do," Damon murmured. His lips gently brushed against hers.

"When and where do you want to do this?"

"Enough time for us to get what we're going to say straight but soon, before you get hurt again. One night this week? I'll have to make sure Stefan is preoccupied."

"Alright," she nodded. "I'll go ahead and talk to Klaus."

"I'll handle Klaus," he said coolly, trying not to make a big deal of it. Really, he wanted Addie interacting with the Original bastard as little as possible.

Addie bit her lip, wondering if Damon was going to argue with her. "I think things might go smoother if I talk to him."

"And I think I'd rather talk to him."

"We could talk to him together," Addie suggested sweetly, knowing the idea was a disastrous one.

"I don't see why you have to talk to him," maintained Damon.

She smirked victoriously and threw his own words back at him, "Because I know Klaus better. I know how to get him to agree to this without pissing him off. Damon, he already told me he wants to kill you; don't give him reason to."

"Get him to agree to the plan but hold off on meeting him until we actually give him the coffins."

"Ok."

"Ok." Damon went over the plan in his mind, looking for flaws or deal breakers. He wasn't happy that the whole thing might make Stefan want to retaliate against Addie but he would be spending a lot more time with her to watch her back, which he was happy about. "Wow," he mumbled in slight awe.

"What?" she asked, snuggling next to him.

He waggled his eyebrows suggestively and whispered, "That was pretty impressive for our first time, don't you think?"

"What?"

"I've never formulated a plan _with_ you. You've been involved in my schemes. I've been involved in yours. I like us scheming together," he said softly, gently kissing her forehead, her temple, her eyes, her cheeks, the corner of her mouth.

Addie hummed contently, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Together we are purely diabolical."

He chuckled, his lips brushing down the length of her neck. "Love, we're trying to control Klaus, undermine my crazed brother, and keep you safe. We are completely insane."

* * *

"Contra," Damon read off of the index card before flipping it over. When Addie had given him a choice between leaving or helping her study for the PSAT he hadn't imagine the latter to be painfully reviewing four academic years worth of Latin vocabulary index cards. He'd been quizzing her for the better part of three hours without stopping and they weren't even a third of the way done.

"Against. Contradict. Contrast," Addie replied without thought or hesitation.

"I don't get why you need examples if you know what it means."

"I'm not going to explain my study habits to you," she said testily. "Now," she snapped twice in quick succession, "chop, chop. Next card."

He rolled his eyes and flipped to the back of the card. "Puncture. Pungent"

"Prick. Pung. Punct."

"Linqu."

"Leave. Relinquish. Relict. You didn't say lict," she scolded curtly.

Damon shook his head in disbelief. Every time he hadn't said _exactly_ what was on the card she had noticed. It would have been impressive if she wasn't becoming moodier each time he strayed.

"When's the last time you ate?" he asked, dropping the cards on the coffee table.

Addie picked up the cards and held them out to him. "I don't know."

He looked pointedly between her and the cards several times before shaking his head. "No, no more. I'm not helping you until you eat something."

"I'm not hungry," she said through gritted teeth, trying to force the cards into his hand.

Damon took the cards and sat on them. He fought to keep a stern tone as her eyes grew comically wide. "I know for a fact that the most recent you could have eaten would have been first thing this morning. However, I know you and I know that you don't eat breakfast if you're not told to. Plus, I can't imagine you listening to Alaric or Elena even if they were the type to tell you to eat your breakfast. So logically I can deduce that the last time you ate was roughly 24 hours ago. I don't care if you're hungry or not; you need to eat, Addie."

"Damon, give me back my notes," she said slowly.

"No. What do you want to eat?"

"Please give them back."

He shook his head. "I don't think you understand how this game works. You asking nicely still hasn't changed the fact that you haven't eaten."

Addie smirked smugly as she grabbed another pile of index cards off the coffee table. She waved them under his nose and gloated, "Your game would be a lot better if I didn't have these."

"You do realize I could just snatch those right out of your hand, right?"

It had always fascinated Damon how intensely and quickly Addie could get lost in a book. For the longest time he had thought she had been simply ignoring him when he talked but then he recognized it to be a pattern that only happened when she was reading or studying. Addie would get so invested in what she was doing that she couldn't hear him. He wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt and believe she was just that enthusiastic about the index cards when she didn't answer but he knew they were a very dull read.

Determined that Addie eat, Damon made his way into the kitchen. He frowned as he raided the fridge and pantry. Alaric functioned on a diet of alcohol while Addie functioned on cereal and Poptarts when necessary. There was no doubt that the fully stocked fridge was thanks to Elena. The problem was the lack of protein and things that weren't pre-made. While they had cooked together over the summer Elena's craft specialty was still salad. A few items were all he needed for something light, which was probably the best he could get Addie.

"Hey!" she whined as her note cards were pulled more than two inches from her face. "Give those back!"

"Eat first," bargained Damon, sliding a plate into her outstretched hand.

Addie eyed the sandwich warily. Suspiciously she asked, "What is it?"

"Seriously?" he grumbled as she tried to take it apart while touching it as little as possible. "It's grilled cheese with bacon. Just eat it."

"Wheat or white?" she muttered, flipping the sandwich over to check and make sure it wasn't burnt.

He shook his head in exasperation. "High fructose, bleach, processed, unhealthy white bread, Addie. Why are you still trying to dissect it?"

"I have make sure the bacon is crispy!"

"Love, I think I've made you breakfast enough times to know to practically burn the bacon," Damon ently said, shooing her hand away. "Can you just eat the sandwich?"

"You're gonna eat a grilled cheese?" she asked, eyeing the second one he had set down.

"What? No. You haven't eaten all day. Is it a crime to think that you might want two sandwiches?"

"Guess not. Quiz me while I eat?"

He picked up the cards and tapped them against his thin as he pretended to think. "It goes against my better judgement but ok…. I'm not going to start until you start eating," he added when she looked at him expectantly.

"What the hell?" Addie muttered when her sandwich disappeared from her hand just as she was about to bite it. "Damon! What the hell?!" she demanded incredulously as he sat it back on the plate.

"It has tomatoes," he explained as he held out the other plate. "This one is just cheese and bacon."

Addie took the sandwich but immediately set it down. Damon watched her closely, waiting for some reaction as she tucked her knees under her chin and chewed at her lip. Eventually she blankly asked, "Why?"

"Why what?"

"You always try to pois-

"Healthy food is not poison," interrupted Damon.

She continued to talk over him, "to poison me. So why am I not choking on a mouth full of tomato right now? Why'd you have to change your mind and leave me with these conflicting feelings?"

"You're not just flat out mad that I tried to trick you into eating tomatoes," he asked hopefully as he moved from the chair to sitting next to her.

"I probably should be but… you just stopped yourself from doing something that you know I hate."

He scoffed, "That's an understatement. You despise when I trick you into eating something healthy. I think - oh, God." Damon groaned, resting his head against hers. "I'm such an idiot," he laughed humorlessly.

"Yes, yes, you are," Addie agreed, patting his cheek patronizingly.

"Are we agreeing on why I'm an idiot?"

"Mmm, I'm just agreeing on general principle."

"Principle?"

She nodded. "Yes. Your ego is so enormous that when it does deflate ever so slightly on the rare occasion and you get a chance to look at the person you really are, I feel it's my job to help you see you."

"And I'm an idiot?"

"No," she grinned, moving to kiss his cheek. "You are very intelligent. You can do some foolish things."

In profound amazement Damon rambled, "Like deceive my girlfriend and break a little bit more of her trust each time I deceive her into eating healthy. But each time I did that I thought it was ok because it was coming from a good place and I just wanted the best for you. You know what I was really doing? Giving myself permission to do things like that! It's why I thought drugging you was fine! It was all ok because I've been doing it since before we even had a relationship. Yeah, you always get upset but you've never left me over it! Do you realize this enlightenment come the first time I tried to _drug_ you after I actually drugged you and faced a pretty serious consequence from that? I stopped you because I learned -"

Addie cut off his fast talking in the most efficient way she could think of and kissed him. Excited with his revelation Damon eagerly returned the kiss, trying to convey his apology for every recipe modification from the first batch of waffle made with shredded apples to the tomatoes in the grilled cheese. It was a heated clash of lips and teeth as they battle for control while greedy, restless hands roamed. Limited by her need for air Addie reluctantly pulled away, resting her forehead against Damon's, her chest rapidly rising and falling in breathlessness. He grinned and brushed his nose against hers, making her smile.

"I'm sorry," he said softly, gently stroking her cheek.

"I always wondered if you really understood what you did," she admitted.

Damon gave a bitter, humorless chuckle, "Guess you witnessed my revelation."

"Look at you, growing up and learning lessons," Addie teased. "I told you you were intelligent."

"You know that you mean everything to me and I love you more than anything, more than I ever even thought was possible even though I really screw up and when you say some of things I do it really doesn't seem like it, right?" he professed, his light blue eyes searching her darker ones for understanding.

"I know. I - I - I," she shook her head in defeat as the words wouldn't come to her. Unable to take the pressure of his stare Addie shifted into his lap and curled up against him, resting her head on his shoulder as his arms wound securely around her. "You have no idea how lucky I am to have you."

A long, comfortable silence settled over them as they snuggled on the couch. Addie had become so relaxed and her breathing that Damon had thought she had fallen asleep. He was considering moving her to bed when she surprised him.

"Do you know Sonnet 116?" she asked quietly.

Damon smiled into her hair, the scent of cucumber melon filling his nose. Only Addie would ask something so obscure. "Is that the one that goes 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?'"

"That's Sonnet 18."

Of course she would know that. "Oh. Well, then I'm afraid my knowledge of Shakespeare's sonnets is limited to the first two lines of Sonnet 18," he admitted as he gently squeezed his arms around her.

"And you haven't read all 38 plays?"

The corners of his mouth twitched slightly at the hint of disappointment in her voice. Addie _really_ liked Shakespeare and that was the only reason he had hung up the _Everybody Dies in Shakespeare_ poster in his room that she'd brought back from the Globe theatre. Teasingly Damon murmured, "Is that a crime?"

Addie nodded against his shoulder and very seriously replied, "It should be. What have you been so busy with for over 170 years that you have not completed all the works of The Bard?"

"Murder, mayhem, and general debauchery." Almost as if an afterthought he added, "Did I mention being cool and not being a complete nerd?"

"That's the second time today you've called me a nerd," she pointed out indignantly.

"I know," Damon grinned cheekily. He chuckled softly at her slight pout and brushed his lips against it. "Sweetie, you've spent your Saturday doing practice tests and studying Latin for a test that doesn't matter, except to serve as practice. You're practicing for practice. While your dedication is impressive and admirable, I think it qualifies you as a nerd. If that doesn't, bringing up Shakespeare while cuddling with your boyfriend definitely does."

She stared pointedly at him and enunciated, "Rude," as she tried to climb out of his lap but Damon held her in place.

"It's a very endearing and adorable quality for you," he placated. His fingers lightly danced along the side of her stomach, making her push herself further against him and Damon smiled satisfactorily. "Come on, tell me about Sonnet 116," he coaxed as his lips skimmed over the shell of her ear.

"Nuh-uh. I don't think I feel like tell you anymore," she replied indignantly.

"Please," he urged. Addie shivered as pulled her earlobe between his teeth.

"Nope. I was being serious but then you had to be a dick."

Damon tilted her face up towards his and rested his forehead against hers. He gave her his most charming, lopsided grin and repeated, "Please."

She hummed in mock consideration before chastely kissing him and returning her head to his shoulder. "Nah. I'll just leave you in suspense. You ruined the moment," Addie decided.

"Fine," pouted Damon. He gently rubbed his hand up and down her back as they fell back into a comfortable silence.

Distractedly Addie gently tugged and pulled at the collar of Damon's black t-shirt. She really wanted to tell him, she just didn't know how. And it was too awkward when he gave her his full attention. The pressure of those beautiful, piercing eyes could just be too much. But Damon deserved to know how she felt. After a long consideration she quietly recited,

"...Love is not love

Which alters when it alteration finds,

Or bends with the remover to remove:

O no! It is an ever-fixed mark

That looks on tempests and is never shaken;

It is the star to every wandering bark,

Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.

Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks

Within his bending sickle's compass come:

Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,

But bears it out even to the edge of doom.

If this be error and upon me proved,

I never loved you, nor no man ever."

Damon's brows furrowed as he tried to interpret what she said. Poetry and early modern English were not his strong suits. He worked through each line, translating it into modern speech. If he understood her correctly, Addie was saying what love was and was not. Love did not change under changing circumstances but rather consistency was the first and most important element of it. Love was so pervasive that it continued even when unreciprocated or in the face of betrayal. Even when someone tried to remove affection, real love doesn't give in and disappear.. Faced with difficulties or adversity, love would always survive.

The metaphor about storms and ships proved to be a little bit more difficult to interpret. Damon wasn't sure he was understanding it correctly as he came up with a lighthouse that served as a constant point of trust that a sailor may come back to even in the fiercest of storms. So love was like a lighthouse, providing stability and encouraging light? It made sense but it seemed like an odd metaphor. However, it matched the nautical theme of the North Star being a trusty, constant source of navigation for ships. Was Shakespeare comparing the star to a lover? True lovers completely trust each other and know their love will stay consistent?

Giving up on making sense of the sea themed lines, Damon moved forward in trying to understand the poem. Love was obviously priceless, although some act could be observed and measured. Love isn't at the beck and call of time; mortality isn't an issue for true love, which doesn't fade even when youth and beauty disappear. Love doesn't change as the days go by; rather, it remains strong until the lover's dying day.

 _If this be error and upon me proved, I never loved, nor no man ever._ If the poem's idea of love turned out to be wrong, then the poet has never felt love nor had anyone else. Damon grinned stupidly as he began to realize what she was trying to tell him. Double checking to make sure he wasn't misinterpreting wouldn't hurt, though.

"Addie, are you saying you love me?" he asked cautiously. Panic flooded through him as he felt her stiffen against and her hand clutch desperately at his shirt as he spoke.

Addie pressed her face further into the crook of his neck, feeling her cheeks burn. Anxious and wary she mumbled, "Yes."

One little word and his world stood still, tilted, and began spinning on a new axis a thousand times faster than before. He had been pretty certain of how Addie felt but it hadn't really meant much until she actually confirmed it. Though she hadn't come right out and said it. Only Addie would turn three simple words into a complicated riddle. And he adored it. She had so perfectly found the way to say what she believed of love and that she had such emotions directed towards him.

Damon felt as if he might burst if he continued to restrain his giddy excitement. Gently he lifted her head from his shoulder and bowed his head towards her. He'd always dismissed the cliche of seeing fireworks and feeling electric shocks at a kiss but he couldn't deny the mind blowing sensation as he let his lips ghost by hers. He made to pull back but Addie's hand on his face encouraged him closer. She pressed her lips to his insistently. Moving his against hers, he slipped his hand from her cheek and into her hair, letting his fingers get lost in the dyed blue locks.

Not caring that he was undoubtedly beaming like a fool, Damon pressed his forehead against hers. Realizing something, he softly begged, "Say it. Please."

"I love you," she whispered. Addie couldn't resist smiling as her thumb traced of the creases at the ends of the glowing grin that covered his whole face.

"I love the way that sounds," Damon murmured. He chuckled softly as she raised her eyebrows at him. "Of course I love you, too."

He bit back a groan at the bright red that flooded her face and the way she bit at her lip. It had been a long time since he'd made her blush with those words. He couldn't resist kissing her just one more time. Her mouth was hot and tasted of the hot chocolate she'd been drinking while studying. Her skin was so warm as he ran his hand up her neck to cup the side of her face. His shirt balled in her hand and he detected the slightest hint of a whimper as he bit at her lip.

One hand pressed between her shoulder blades and the other tucked into her back pocket, Damon kept her pressed firmly to him. Addie's mind started to go foggy again as his lips slipped to pepper gentle, loving kisses along her jaw. Her hand curled in his hair as he gently nipped just below her ear. Determined, she twisted in his lap until she straddled him; she wanted to properly kiss him. When Addie went to part Damon's lips with hers he needed no encouragement. Addie had said she loved him; happy and content, as far as Damon was concerned, she could do whatever the hell she wanted to him. While one hand stayed tucked in her back pocket, gently squeezing, Addie shivered at feeling his other slip under her shirt to stroke at the sensitive skin at the small of her back. Damon exhaled softly as she gently nipped and nibbled at his lower lip. Sharply tugging his hair, Addie exposed his neck so she could bite at it. Damon uttered a colorful expletive that turned into a groan as he felt her teeth dig into the muscles of his neck.

Addie quickly pulled away from him as she heard a throat clear. Mortified by the sight of Alaric and a beautiful brunette in the entryway, she tried to scramble off Damon's lap but he held her in place.

"Damon!" she hissed angrily but he only gave her a look that made her cheeks go from cherry to fire engine red.

He had to look over his shoulder to see who had entered but when he did, Damon scowled. "Seriously, Ric?!"

"Didn't mean to interrupt," the other man muttered, awkwardly scratching at the back of his neck with the hand that wasn't holding a giant duffle bag. Addie recognized it as one of the ones he kept his vampire hunting weapons in.

"Not that," Damon spat dismissively. "You're bringing a confirmed psycho case around Addie? If the good doctor doesn't kill you first, _I'm_ going to."

"Perhaps I should go," Meredith Fell told Alaric.

"Don't worry about it," Addie said quickly. She had managed to get off of Damon and was pulling at his arm as she picked up her Latin index cards. "Come on. Let's go study upstairs," she urged, sensing the rage simmering beneath his seemingly calm exterior.

Damon grumbled in consent and allowed Addie to drag him from the livingroom, up the stairs, and to her bedroom. As soon as the door was closed behind them he snapped, "Can you believe him? He's lost his mind! Addie, I don't want you around her."

"Ok, I won't be around her," she acquiesced, watching him pace the small space angrily. "Look," Addie said firmly, stepping in his path, "it's not me you should be worried about. I'm already going to have your extra protection because of the plan with Klaus. Worry about the guy dating the vervain crazed doctor. If you think she killed her ex-boyfriend, we should probably be concerned about Alaric."

"He's lost his mind. Does he not realize he's dating a woman who likely killed the guy she dated? And she roofied me like some drunk sorority chick!" Damon ranted, pushing his fingers through his hair.

"I've clearly lost my mind because how many of your ex… flings have ended up dead?" Addie pointed out reasonably.

"That's - It's different," he insisted, sounding slightly petulant.

"I know. But for now, all we have is some sketchy, circumstantial evidence. Let's not go burning people at the stake until we're certain, ok?"

"Will Alaric's body be enough proof?"

Addie wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her cheek against his shoulder. "I get that you're worried about him. We'll find out more about Dr. Fell, ok?"

Damon relaxed slightly as he embraced her back. "Ok," he agreed, gratefully at how easily she could soothe him. Appreciatively he kissed the top of her head. "I love you."

"I love you, too," she whispered, a small smile tugging at her lips.

* * *

 **A/N: We are starting to stray a little bit from the plot but we'll get back to it. I'll do my best with updates (I'm debating between frequency versus length right now.) but between everything going on I can't promise every Friday.**

 **Thank you so, so, so much to everyone who has been following, adding this to their favorites, and especially those who are commenting (It's a big inspiration and a reminded that I need to write.).**


	16. Chapter 15

"I still think this is a bad idea," Addie muttered as she again walked through the empty space where the locked coffin had appeared only moments before. The physics of it were mindboggling. Did the witch spirits transport the coffin to a new location? It was more than a simple cloaking spell that made it invisible, otherwise she wouldn't be able to stand exactly where the coffin had been.

"Then go," Damon suggested for the fifth time. "I think you being here is the part that's a bad idea."

She stooped down to see if she could differentiate between the usual dirt and grime versus and that might have been smudged by the moving of the coffin. "Me being here is the only smart part of this plan," she said as she rubbed at a scuff mark.

Rolling his eyes, Damon moved from his place by the stair to sit on one of the two visible coffins as he reminded, "This plan was your idea."

"No, no. My plan involved making the agreement with Klaus, without your smartass, provoking commentary and then giving him the coffins."

"Well that was when we only had to worry about keeping Stefan out of here during the exchange. We weren't having to keep Bonnie and her mother occupied at the same time. You know Klaus would demand his family the second you struck a deal. Asking him to wait a few days so we could sneak the coffins to him wasn't exactly an option. In case you haven't noticed, Bonnie's Mommy and Me time is like all the time and it takes place in this room. We're lucky that Elena happened to drag them to dinner and a movie on the same night Stefan heard whispers of a hybrid within 50 miles of town. Would you stop crawling around on the floor?" he asked in exasperation as she seemed to be trying to pry up a floorboard.

Addie sighed and brushed her hands off on her jeans as she stood back up. "And of course you didn't plant the idea of going out in Elena's head or tell Stefan about the hybrid," she retorted sharply.

He held up his hands innocently. "Coincidence is a funny thing."

"It's not a coincidence if you're a maker of the circumstances!"

"Look, we need to get some kind of control over Stefan before he goes postal and drives _you_ off Wickery Bridge. Bonnie and her mom have been trying to open the coffin for nearly a week with no progress and he's getting antsy. I didn't exactly have a choice," Damon said defensively.

"There's always a choice, Damon. Next time, let's not be devious when I have an exam at 8AM the following day. In fact, let's also not be devious on days when I have literally run the length of a marathon. It really does drain me; as such, my mental acuity isn't quite up to par," scorned Addie as she leaned against the coffin next to him.

Wrapping his arms around her waist he tugged her to him and smirked. "Your mental acuity is sharp enough to berate me. You are more than up to the task of going toe-to-toe with Klaus," he argued.

"But I'm apparently not up to the task of handling him on my own," she retorted pointedly. Addie wasn't convinced Damon could be rational long enough to keep from pissing Klaus off and getting one of them killed.

"Au contraire mon amour. You've proven yourself capable of handling Klaus and it is precisely that reason why I insist on being here," he corrected. "I have to make sure you don't get too carried away and start making him feel like we're brow beating him into this."

"Are you saying I'm bossy?" demanded Addie.

Damon's lips twitched as he fought to keep a mask of innocence as he quickly shook his head. "I never said that… today," he tacked on when she stared at him disapprovingly. He tensed as he heard the crunching of leaves outside. Swiftly kissing her cheek he murmured in her ear, "I'm just here to protect you; otherwise, this is all you, Ads. You got this."

If Damon's sudden change in behavior wasn't enough to alert Addie of Klaus' presence, the overwhelming sensation of darkness and the desire to leave were. For once, more out of concern for Damon's protection than embarrassment over being seen so close together she moved to lean against the other visible coffin. They were going to tell Klaus to say he had used Damon against her, while the idea wasn't exactly new and it was how he had gotten her to spend the summer with him, she didn't want Klaus to decide to actually do it again. It was on the exhaustive list of reasons she had been keeping her distance from Damon but then she had gone and screwed all that up when, in a moment of weakness, she'd told him she loved him.

As much as Addie had needed space after Damon had drugged her to come to terms with it and how she felt about keeping him in her life, the distance had also been for his own protection. Addie had convinced Klaus that she had ended things with Damon when he fled Mystic Falls. They had been careful to make sure everyone believed they were still just friends. Rebekah had been a little suspicious, particularly after catching them kissing in the library. Though even after a three hour fight, Addie hadn't been able to persuade Damon to tell Alaric what he had walked in on was just something casual. He kept repeating something about the integrity of her reputation and the bonds of friendship only stretching so far. Bitterly she had hoped that Damon had been forced to sit through the _wrong choice, bad idea_ lecture that Alaric had tried to give her. With the exception of Alaric, as far as everyone knew, Addie had broken up with Damon. Perhaps they had been unwisely close for people trying to hide a romance when she first got back but once Klaus had returned, alive and for good, Addie realized just how important it was that it seem like they weren't together. Klaus liked to strike where someone was vulnerable and they were too obviously each other's weakness.

She knew Damon thought her naive, and perhaps she was, but she wasn't stupid. For some reason Klaus was interested in her in some way. In Chicago he had said he thought there was something special about her. He thought that perhaps she couldn't be compelled but because she had done everything he had asked, most of which she refused to remember, he had wrongly concluded that she could be. Klaus was interested in more than that, though. Rebekah had let it slip that Klaus thought of as the solution to some kind of problem or curse. The blonde had also revealed that Stefan had been ordered to keep her safe and Klaus would dagger Rebekah if she hurt her. Addie was fairly certain she was safe from Klaus for a while but she hadn't shared any of this information with Damon. The last thing she wanted to do was encourage more reckless attempts to kill Klaus.

Addie shoved her hands deep in her pocket to keep them from shaking as she heard the floorboards of the stairs gently creek.

"Addison," Klaus greeted politely with a slight bow as he fully entered the room. Spying Damon his voice hardened, "I was under the impression we were meeting alone."

The vampire snorted and Addie quickly shot him a warning looking. _Her way_. She waved her hand dismissively at Damon as her attention returned to Klaus. "Ignore him; it's what I typically do. Damon needs to hear this conversation but you and I are the only ones involved."

The hybrid raised a cool, speculative eyebrow. "He's letting you call your own shots now?"

It wasn't only Klaus who was surprised by this. Ever since she had told him she loved him, Damon had pretty much supported anything Addie wanted to do. He was much less overbearing and overprotective; it was nice. The only thing he had demanded on was being present for this meeting but he had surprisingly agreed to keep quiet. She wasn't quite sure how long that was going to last, though.

With a slight shrug and small frown she easily lied, "Not really. However I had already set up this meeting with you when he found out so he had a limited amount of time to run interference. Obviously you would figure out something went wrong if I never showed and there there's a very short list of people who could have prevented me from being here so -"

"Allowing this meeting to proceed is in his own best interest," Klaus finished for her. Bitterly he asked, "This time he had to run interference, I'm assuming it is why I only see two coffins and not four?"

"Yes. I'm not just handing them over to you, though," Addie replied sharply as he caressed the one closest to her.

He stared blankly at her for a moment before grinning predatorily, "I could just kill both of you and take them."

She nodded in agreement. "You could try that but you should know that if you try and remove these coffins without my permission or if either one of us comes to harm you will be facing the wrath of one hundred dead witches." Suddenly the flames of the fifty candles she and Damon had lit around the room shot up. Remaining politely detached she asked, "Understand?"

"What do you want?" growled Klaus. In response, the flames returned to normal.

"Not much. I wanted peace." She quickly raised a hand to silence him as he made to interrupt her. "I know that won't happen until you have your family back, I know. I tried to do that for you, Klaus, but I was," her eyes quickly flashed to Damon and he gave her a barely perceptible nod as she lamented, "prevented. I'm doing what I can. I think we can all agree that Stefan's state of mind is questionable and he should not be holding the power of your family over you. And before you get the wrong idea, do not believe that I am on your side and think you should have your family back. This summer you took me from my family; you deserve to be punished for that and I see no way more fitting than to do exactly the same to you.

"However, Stefan has had your family for almost as long as you held me hostage. In my book we are equal enough that I rather deal with you having your family than Stefan having them. So, I'm offering to give you back half your family on a few conditions," Addie said, sounding smooth and confident. Damon was proud; if it wasn't for her drumming her fingers against her thigh inside her pocket, he wouldn't have been able to tell that she was freaking out.

Slowly, through gritted teeth Klaus repeated, "What do you want?"

Addie sighed heavily and rested her hip against the coffin, "It's Stefan's instability that is proving to be problematic. You understand how he'll want to rip my throat out for doing this. Currently I'm fond of living so I don't want this. So how do I give you what you want and control the beast?"

"You want me to compel him?"

"No; it was a rhetorical question." Was it possible to compel Stefan into who he was before Klaus turned him into a ripper? Addie looked quickly at Damon; they had never discussed the option of having Klaus try and compel Stefan. He barely shook his head enough for her to detect it. "The one redeeming quality of Stefan," she told Klaus, "is that there are remnants of his humanity left. He says he's willing to risk Damon's life to get revenge on you but I'm counting on that not being true."

"That's a child's hope, Addison," he remarked condescendingly.

Unfazed, she shrugged, "Well, you have the option of indulging a child's hope and getting two brothers back or walking out of here with nothing." When he didn't respond she assumed he was listening. "The story we all will tell _anyone_ when asked how you got the two coffins back will be that you threatened me with Damon's life if I didn't return them to you. It wouldn't be the first time I did something because you threatened someone I cared about. And you chose me because Stefan's humanity is just a little too questionable when you have someone you know you can manipulate."

Klaus crossed his arms and leaned against the coffin about a foot in front of Addie as he surmised her. "So you're trusting that Stefan won't kill you because if push came to shove, he would have done the same thing?"

"That's the theory. Obviously, as I've said, his rationality is a little questionable at the moment so I will, of course, be taking increased security precautions."

"Like Damon?" he sneered.

"Damon. Alaric. Bonnie. I'll have plenty of people watching out for me," Addie shrugged. Sarcastically she added, "And, surprisingly enough, there might just be the chance that I could possibly defend myself. Wouldn't even be the first time I've staked a vampire."

Klaus considered her for a long time as he stroked his chin in thought. His attention turned to Damon who was watching them with a cool disinterest and wondered, "You think it's enough protection?"

"I said this conversation was between you and me," Addie snapped, moving her head to block Klaus' view of Damon.

"Yes but I know you tend to take your safety quite lightly. He doesn't," Klaus replied simply.

"It's not ideal but it's possible she's in more danger right now. We will know Stefan might be targeting her so everyone will be on guard. Currently, we have no idea what his plan is and the last time he decided to do something she got hurt," answered Damon as soon as he saw Addie's eyes narrow and mouth pinch. They weren't going to fuck up this plan just because she wanted to be a stubborn smartass. He smiled sweetly as she glowered at him.

"Say I upped your security. Just a hyb-"

Interrupting him, Addie scoffed loudly, "This is _not_ a negotiation. I'm comfortable with my security level. You have a problem with it then feel free to continue trying to bargain back your family from Stefan."

"Just being polite," Klaus said innocently. "When do I get the rest of my family?"

Addie shrugged, "I dunno. Like I said, Damon ran interference."

"Mhm," he nodded. "So why don't I just actually kill Damon if you don't give me all the coffins instead of saying that I threatened you? I prefer to be a man of action."

"You can be a man of action but look at the facts: Damon doesn't agree with me handing your family over nor does he agree with Stefan having control over them. Do you really think he's going to tell anyone one where he put them?" she pointed out wisely.

Coldly Klaus suggested, "I could just torture the locations out of him."

"Do you worst and you'll still never know," Damon chuckled darkly.

The hybrid shook his head as his lips twitched into a feral grin, "Oh, no, not physical torture. I've done my research. That would be quite useless on you, wouldn't it, Damon? But pain for Addie would be the epitome of torture for you."

"You so much as look at her in a way I don't like and you'll be fishing Elijah out of the Challenger Deep," hissed Damon, breaking plan and moving to stand protectively by her side.

"Actually at 36,000 feet deep the pressure is approximately 1,000 times that at sea level so he would probably be kinda…" Addie trailed off as she mimed crushing something between her hands. "Plus you couldn't even open something at that depth to quickly retrieve him. You'd have to use like one of those claws in those crane machine games to kind of pick up his body. You would-" realizing they were both staring at her, Klaus with barely controlled anger and Damon in mild amusement, she muttered, "nevermind."

"What do you want?" Klaus demanded of Damon.

He shrugged, "I want you to go along with Addie's plan. If I see any of the extended Original family around town, someone goes in the ocean. Addie's asked for Rebekah as an exception, which I will permit if you can keep her from killing the locals. You have made it clear that you wish to make a home in this town and, you know, you keep your hybrids out of here and that's fine. As soon as you decide you want to leave Addie, everyone she cares about, my brother, and me alone and want to move, then I'll return the other two coffins."

"I need Elena," Klaus hissed.

"Right, your blood bag," Damon snorted. "As long as I hold onto the coffins you'll get one litre every six months provided we stay on good terms."

"Good terms?"

"I don't see why this can't function like any good business deal. You and your family can have any part of the globe, Klaus. We just want Mystic Falls."

Klaus fumed, "What do I get out of this? How is this any better than dealing with Stefan?"

"Guaranteed return of two coffins right now before anything happens to them. Hassle-free hybrid juice as long as you keep hybrids out of town and keep daggers in whoever's in the coffins, so as long as you choose. We all coexist in this town in peace," Addie listed off on her fingers. "Well, we can't speak for Stefan and peace and if you try some new evil scheme we're allowed to react but, you know, peace otherwise."

Not liking the angry shade of red the hybrid was turning, Damon took Addie's hand in his and lend her towards the stairs. Over his shoulder he said, "Stefan can't be reasoned with, Klaus. I have Addie whispering in my ear and she just wants you gone. You'll make a lot more progress working with us. Take the deal."

* * *

"We drove four hours to go hiking?" Addie grumbled in disbelief as Damon helped slide a backpacking pack onto her back. It was heavy and she had to brace herself from stumbling backwards when he left her bare the full weight of it.

"Not exactly," he muttered as he buckled the straps around her waist and across her chest

She looked expectantly at Damon, waiting for him to elaborate but he didn't as he put on his own pack, much larger and heavier than the one he'd given her. He'd been acting strange since he had suddenly appeared to pick her up from taking the PSAT and randomly declaring that they were going out of town. When she kept asking him why he would only say that they just needed some alone time. He had apparently loaded her car with the packs while she was taking the exam.

"Then why, exactly?" Addie eventually caved and asked.

Damon flashed her big grin as he tug out the case containing her Celestron Omni XLT telescope and held it up in explanation. "There's a meteor shower tonight and Jupiter is supposed to look really amazing."

Slamming the boot door closed, he headed off in the direction of a much traveled trail that led up the mountains and to the campsite.

"I'm fairly certain we could have seen both of those things just fine from my backyard," she complained, following him. "Why did we drive four hours away Damon?"

"I told you," he sighed in exasperation as he held a low hanging tree branch out of her way. "We just need some alone time."

"Thanks," she said softly, gently squeezing his hand as she passed him, Louder she continued to pry, "I don't see why we had to travel four hours away to have alone time and look at stars."

"I wanted to get away from the light away pollution so we could get the best view. Besides, these backpacks aren't just to make a fashion statement, love," Damon grinned, continuing to lead her up the hill.

Addie stopped for a moment as her lips pinched while she watched him move with grace and convinced, Grimly she surmised, "Camping? We're going camping?"

He tried not to snicker at the trepidation in her voice and reassured her, "Don't worry, Ads. I am more than a match for anything we may encounter in these woods."

She gave a small noise of disagreement and disbelief as she continued to follow him. Her reluctance to camp wasn't entirely irrational. That few campers she had heard about had been eaten by a werewolf. Before that a string of campers had been victims of animals attacks, the bodies drained of blood. Of course that had been Damon and Addie really didn't believe he'd do that to her. Glancing to the bright blue sky she tried to remember what phase the moon was in.

Roughly an hour later, when she was just about read to ask Damon how much further they were going to wander into the woods they came upon a large, level clearing of the trees. Moving to the northern end of the bare space, he carefully set down the telescope.

"Jupiter hangs in the southern sky. We will be able to see it best from here," he explained as he looked up at the circular gap between the trees ringing the grassy area.

Her eyebrows raised in slight surprise; Damon had never let on that he knew anything about astronomy any time she went on about it. In the east layers of striated hazy blue clouds hung low in the sky. "You sure you picked the right time to do this?" she asked, nodding towards the clouds.

"Feel that?" he retorted, moving closer to her. His lips twitched in amusement as her brows furrowed with confusion. "No wind. Clouds are miles away and not moving towards us. It also means that the upper atmosphere should be pretty calm so thermal currents won't be deflecting and refracting light," explained Damon with a sense of smugness.

Unknowingly, Addie crossed her arms and pouted slightly. Damon unbuckled the support strap across her waist and chest as he softly asked, "What?"

"Nothing," she muttered, letting him help her take off the heavy hiking backpack.

"Something's wrong. Tell me what," he insisted.

A little more roughly than she meant to, she took the pack from him and snipped, "You know astronomy. It's annoying."

Addie stomped over to a long, dead log, a few leaves already dead for winter crunching under her feet, Next to the log lay a pile of grey and black ash, the remains of what was once a fire. She rest the backpack against the log as she watched a snickering Damon move to the east side of the campsite and remove his own larger bag.

"What's so funny?" she huffed, placing her hands on her hips.

Damon shook his head in amusement as he unstrap what looked like a rolled up tarp from the bottom of his backpacking bag. "You're actually bothered that I might know more than you do. I've got about 160 years worth of knowledge on you."

"But astronomy was supposed to be _my_ thing. I know three things about my life: making music will be my career, ancient Greek and Roman history is the intellectual pursuit I will always be learning about to keep my mind sharp, and astronomy is my guilty pleasure. You can be smarter than me in anything except those three things," Addie declared possessively.

"I'm sure you know more about the actual science behind it all. You'll just have to accept that I'm probably better at reading a sky map or knowing the location of a particular constellation or when a celestial event may occur, you know, the physical stuff. By having stared at the sky for almost 160 years more than you, I think I have a fair claim to knowing that stuff. What's the harm in letting astronomy be our thing?" reasoned Damon as he worked on pitching the tent. From the center of the tarp he had rolled out there was a collection of short poles held together with an elastic cord running through the center. He made quick work of interlocking the poles into each other, eventually making two extremely long poles.

Watching Damon and feeling useless Addie asked, "Um, what exactly should I be doing? I haven't been camping since I was about 12 and at that point my parents just told Jeremy and me to go play because we kept making things take three times as long," she tacked on the unneeded explanation nervously.

But why was she nervous? Addie knew she was perfectly safe with Damon, from him or any other dangers. There was just something off, something that had shifted in the dynamics of their relationship ever since she'd told him that she loved him. She had only told him that one time but he hadn't _asked_ her to tell him again. Damon kept saying he loved her over and over, each time making her heart beat erratically, her cheeks flush, and leaving her tongue tied with the intense, heated look he said it with; like he knew her every secret. He didn't know every secret but he knew her most guarded; she loved him in a tragic, unconditional matter. Not for the first time Addie mentally scorned herself for trusting her heart and happiness to Damon Salvatore.

"You could gather large rocks and rim the fire pit. Collect wood. Set up the telescope. Whatever you want to do," he answered distractedly. His whole attention was focused on sliding the two poles through tubes of fabric on top of the tent so that they lay like an X. At each corner of the tent there were grommets that the ends of the poles fit into. He connected one tube at the bottom left and the other at the bottom right. Bending each of the poles up enough so that he could connect the unconnected end to its corresponding corner required a little more effort but Damon was pleased with the small, two person tent that popped up.

When he looked up to find Addie slowly removing each leg mount to the telescope from its case as gingerly as if it was made of glass, he knew he would have the fire at a full blaze before she was even halfway done.

* * *

"You see Pisces?" Damon asked, tracing a "V" shape against the night sky.

"No, Damon, I don't see Pisces. I just see stars, a lot of fucking stars. Do you know why I see a lot of fucking random stars that _don't_ belong in a constellation? Because we are in the middle of freaking nowhere with absolutely no little pollution to bleed away those stars," Addie snapped as she shut off the flashlight and shoved the sky map into Damon's hand. After trying to find Jupiter for half an hour with the naked eye, she was ready to sit back and just watch the meteor shower.

It was easy to brush off her attitude with him when he knew it was just her frustration and pride. She had spent 25 minutes silently determined to locate the planet before grumbling out a reluctant plea for his help.

Not needing it, Damon let the sky map fall to the ground as he wrapped one arm around Addie's waist and pulled her flush against him. To get a better sense of exactly what she was seeing he rested his chin on her shoulder so he was looking at the stars at the same level. He curled his hand with hers so that they were both pointing one finger towards the south sky.

"These five really bright ones that are almost in a vertical line?" he murmured, directing her finger over the stars he meant.

It took Damon running over the invisible line several times before she could see it. "That's it?"

"Not quite. See the star halfway between the first two stars? It's the first star to the left if you look away from the line. All three stars make an obtuse triangle."

"Alright. That's Pisces?" Addie asked eagerly, excited to find Jupiter.

"The left half. Look at the bottom star of the line we made; that's Alrisha. See the little one directly northwest of Alrisha at almost exactly 45 degrees? Now find the bright redish one about 60 degrees northwest to that one. There's a trail of that just barely arch up and come down stretching out to the right," he explained, still pointing everything out as he said it.

She nodded, a shiver running through her at the way his scruff tickled against her cheek. "I see it."

"Good job. Can you make out the five really bright stars that form a circle if you connect them at the last star?" He felt her nod again. "That," he emphasized, tracing the whole pattern, "is Pisces."

"Um… I don't see it," confessed Addie. Damon gave her a puzzled look and she raised the shoulder he wasn't resting on helplessly. "Pisces is supposed to be two fish, I don't see fish."

The constellation was associated with the ancient Greek legend of Aphrodite and Eros, who escapes from the monster Typhon by leaping into the sea and transforming into fish. In order not to lose each other, the tied themselves together with rope, the triangle at one end and the circle at the other being the loops around the fish. However, Damon didn't find it prudent to tell Addie this; she had already been upset about him knowing more about astronomy. It would be pointless trying to explain to her that knowing a few random facts about Greek mythology still meant he knew essentially nothing about ancient Greece.

"Addie, you're trying to make sense of connect-the-dots created by people who believed Venus could determine your personality. Trying to get the logic out of it is a lot like trying to get the logic out of you," Damon lightly joked as he let go of her hand to wrap both arms around her waist.

"I make complete sense… 90 percent of the time," she objected.

"Yes. To you. The rest of us can only follow along with your sense about half the time, usually because you skip a key point of explanation but sometimes because you simply only make sense in a purely nonsense way," he pointed out, gently kissing along her neck.

"You're so mean to me," she whined playfully. The cool October air was settling in around them. Addie tugged the sides of Damon's jacket out from between them and draped the leather around her shoulders as she burrowed into him. Damon wasn't exactly a good source of heat but his jacket could help. "So, we found Pisces. How does that help us find Jupiter?"

Damon pointed to the circle on the right side of the constellation and instructed, "That star on the bottom left? Look south and maybe fifteen degrees west until you see the double stars."

"Found 'em."

"Alright. Now halfway between the double stars and the star in Pisces there is a bright object that doesn't sparkle like a star."

Addie broke out of Damon's hold as soon as she spotted the gaseous planet and moved to her telescope. It was easy to direct the optical tube and the objective lens towards the circle of stars Damon had used as a reference point. The finderscope, with its low magnification and its wide field of view, she was able to fine tune the alignment of the device with a small remote control. Eventually a pink globe centered itself in the viewing frame. She looked through the eyepiece before immediately pulling away. A fuzzy blur wasn't what she wanted.

Carefully she undid the clasp holding the magnifier in place and removed it. From a tray underneath the telescope she pulled out a small black case that unlatched to reveal different sized magnifiers. She tucked the eyepiece back into it's designated spot of 32mm. She hummed contemplatively as she ran her fingers over the different magnifications. The scope's focal length was 750mm; with her best eyepiece she could magnify the view of Jupiter 375 time. Addie removed the 2mm eyepiece and a blue contrast filter to hopefully emphasis the red bands of Jupiter.

Positioning the filter and then the eyepiece, Addie fastened them into place. Looking through the eyepiece, she used the remote control to make sure Jupiter was in the center of the main viewing window. While she had viewed the notoriously red planet several times before, there was something about it that just didn't look right.

As she squinted into the eyepiece trying to figure out what was wrong with the view Addie asked Damon, "Can you get me out the 3mm?"

Damon complied but when he passed the piece to her he said in a puzzled tone, "You're decreasing the magnification?"

"Yeah," Addie muttered, looking to the planet without the telescope. The reason she'd had such a difficult time spotting the planet initially was because of how dim it was compared to surrounding stars. Damon had even used relatively bright bright stars to convey its position. As she swapped out the eyepieces she explained, "I'm zoomed in on Jupiter 375 but it's not bright enough for that so I'm taking it down to 250 times. See, the amount of light from Jupiter entering through the objective lens is fixed. But when I'm changing the eyepiece I'm changing the focal lens. As I increase magnification, Jupiter's light has to cover an ever-greater area of the retina of my eye, making the planet look dimmer and dimmer. Spread it out too much, and it will become too dim to see at all. That's what was happening with this piece." She handed him back the 2mm eyepiece before continuing on in her explanation as she looked back into the telescope.

"Jupiter's surface is covered in thick red, brown, yellow and white clouds. They're not just all jumbled together though; the planet is striated in beautiful different hues that are very distinctive. But magnified 375 times these bands were kind of hard to distinguish because of a lack of light. If an object is dim to begin with, then the right magnification to see detail of a given size and contrast will be different, and almost certainly lower, than for a bright object. At 250 times magnification, I'm getting a pretty good view of Jupiter. Unfortunately the infamous red spot is rotated away from us, right now."

The corners of Damon's mouth pulled upwards as he heard the obvious passion in her voice. He found it so fascinating to watch Addie get so swept up in something she so clearly loved. Her whole attention was focused on that planet countless miles away. After about twenty minutes of just watching her stare at Jupiter, Damon noticed she was shaking a little. And he remembered how she had pulled his jacket around her when he was showing her Pisces.

Damon shrugged off the leather jacket and held it out for her. "Ads." She kept looking into the telescope, not acknowledging that she had heard him. "Addie," he said a little louder and firmer. Either she was ignoring him or she had retreated so far into the recesses of her own thoughts that she couldn't hear him. Damon was choosing to believe that it was the latter as the other option spoke rather poorly about his company if she chose to spend twenty minutes literally staring into space as opposed to talking to him.

Addie hand both hands wrapped around the eyepiece as she had her left eye pressed against it and her right eye closed for maximum visibility. His theory that she had spaced out when he didn't meet resistance when he moved her hands to slip her arms into his jacket but she didn't really make the process any easier. It wasn't that he was growing bored with watching her, that would never happen, but he was becoming restless. Standing behind her Damon rested his head on her shoulder and slipped his hands into her front pockets. That earned him a reaction.

"Thanks for the jacket," she said quietly, tucking her hands next to his.

He lightly kissed her jaw; it was the best he could do with her still staring down into the telescope. "You're most welcome."

"Want to look?" she offered but Damon could hear her slight reluctance to give up the device.

"It's ok; I know what Jupiter looks like. Plus, I already have a better view," he replied, gently tucking away the hair that fell in her face.

"Mmm… you know what Jupiter _looked_ like; not what it looks like right now. It's a gas planet with clouds constantly moving. It never looks the same," she replied smartly.

"You _do_ realize that you are a complete dork, right?" Damon said in feigned concern.

Addie snorted humorlessly, "Because I know a bit about space?"

"No, no. _I_ know a bit about space. You obsess over it," he corrected.

"Are you jealous that I'm more interested in Jupiter than you right now?" she taunted, still never looking away from the telescope.

"No!... A little, maybe."

She inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly before saying, "Damon, be glad I'm not focusing on you. You _do_ know about space, obviously. One can safely conclude that you know that Jupiter is the fourth or fifth brightest thing in the night sky, next to the Moon, the International Space Station, Venus and sometimes Mars. However, we are currently in a period where Jupiter is most visible during the early evening, around when we first got here. Instead we went on a hike…. And you forced me to shoot wooden bullets at you. If-"

"That was relationship therapy," Damon interrupted defensively.

"A healthy relationship does not involve people shooting at each other!" Addie snapped, recalling their epic fight earlier in the night.

Damon had decided that her vampire defensive training needed a new element added to it: protection from a long range. He hadn't found her retort about not being able to see fangs from so far away or a vampire closing the distance before she could react very cute. And so Addie found herself holding a 9mm duty pistol with a 16 round magazine of wooden bullets.

Damon pinned large sheets of paper to a tree and had Addie shoot at them from about twenty feet away. He had purposely picked out a gun with minimal recoil and a loud _bang._ However when he had considered someone being imitated by the sheer sound of the machine, he hadn't anticipated Addie jumping back, cringing with shock every time she shot the thing. While her reaction had been comical for the first five or six shots, Addie fearing the gun was problematic if she were to use as he intended. After a bunch of arguing over the morality and fairness of using a gun in a fight Damon discover that she was really just afraid of the _crack_ that came with the pull of the trigger. Always a believer in facing fears head on he decided to consecutively fire off two magazines into a tree. Addie just barely convinced him not to start on the third when she actually screamed at him that she was about to have a panic attack.

Scaring the shit out of his girlfriend probably wasn't the smartest solution and definitely not the nicest but Damon couldn't argue with the results he got. Whereas before Addie would begin to flinch in knowing anticipation microseconds before she shot, messing up her aim, she now winced after she fired. Damon was really impressed when she proved not to really need much target practice. But that was at stationary objects. In his experience, opponents tended to move and most commonly it was towards you.

"Now I want you to shoot at me," he had instructed, backing up until there was fifty feet between them.

"What?" Addie mumbled to herself, convinced she misheard him.

"I want you to shoot at me," repeated Damon. "I'm going to come at you and you're going to shoot me."

"I am not going to shoot you! Are you mental?" Addie shrieked in disbelief.

He rolled his eyes impatiently and sighed, "You're not going to actually hit me. I'm going to dodge the bullet."

She scoffed and held up the gun, "So you think you're faster than this?"

"Yes."

"You're an arrogant bastard! What happens when you're proven wrong and you don't actually manage to dodge the bullet?"

"I happen to heal very fast," he smirked.

"I am not going to shoot you!" defied Addie, stomping for emphasis.

"Just do it! I'll be fine!"

"No."

"Come on," he coaxed, suddenly right in front of her. In a flash he was fifty feet away again, casually leaning against a tree. "You're not gonna hit me."

"You're damn right because I'm not gonna shoot at you!"

"I think you're just scared," Damon taunted, trying to get her to do what he wanted. He knew he couldn't exactly force Addie into anything; they had ended up breaking up the last time he had tried that. No, Addie did what she wanted on her own terms and conditions but he could push her buttons.

"Yep," she readily admitted, "I am afraid of shooting my boyfriend. I know that's not typically said in relationships but I think it is an unspoken understanding between most couples. I would hope that you would be afraid of shooting at me."

"Of course. You would actually get hurt if I screwed up and hit you."

"Oh!" Addie gasped in feigned understanding. "So you actually don't feel anything if this wooden bullet were to just graze up against your heart and puncture a lung. You heal quickly _and_ you lack pain receptors. So you think I should be ok with shooting at you because you're not going to feel any of it!"

"I don't appreciate your sarcasm," Damon said haughtily, mostly to make up for the fact that he was beginning to understand her reasoning. It was totally illogical, though, because he would be fine.

"And I don't appreciate you assuming that I would risk hurting you!" she snapped indignantly.

"It's different. I he-"

"It's not different because you're going to heal. I don't want to be a part of anything that involves inflicting pain on you, no matter how brief it may be."

He nodded slowly. "Ok, I get that _but_ I don't want you ever getting hurt so that means you learn how to defend yourself and this is part of that. You can shoot at trees all day but you're most likely going to need to defend yourself from something that moves."

"I'm not shooting you."

"Such as shame. Guess I'm not shooting you tonight, either," he said very suggestively.

"Seriously? You think I'm going to change my mind because you're going to withhold physical contact? I think you might be using compulsion a little too much; your natural manipulation skills need some brushing up on. I'm not shooting you," Addie repeated for the fifth time.

She had set the gun on the stump where the extra ammo rested and had turned back to camp when Damon suddenly appeared inches from her, gun pointed at his chest. Quietly he said, "You shoot at me or I shoot me."

"That's not funny, Damon," scowled Addie, glaring at the black machine.

"I'm not joking."

Addie's hand twitched, desperate to move the gun away from him but afraid of startling him and making him accidentally pull the trigger. Slowly she stated the obvious fact, "That's a wooden bullet. Aimed at your heart. You would -"

"Die?" he finished for her, his eyes wide with shock. He glanced down at the gun; maybe the center of his chest hadn't exactly been the best place to point. The dark thought explained why she had gone so pale and grim, though. "I wouldn't do that! Besides, I'm pointing too far to my right to hit my heart. I'll shoot… mmm… I'll do a suffer shot to the gut if you don't shoot at me."

"You're mental."

"So are you. Now, you can either shoot at me and have a 99.99999% guarantee I won't get hurt or I can just shoot myself and there will be a 100% chance that I will get hurt…. I recall you saying something about not wanting apart in anything that hurt me," he reasoned out smugly.

Addie had snatched the gun away from him and sneered, "I'm half tempted to argue that my lack of action would in and of itself mean me not being involved in you getting shot. You'd just be getting shot because you're an idiotic dick."

"Yes but you're only half tempted to argue that," he'd grinned from back by the tree. "The second you see me move, fire."

"How am I supposed to do that if I _can't_ see you move when you flash about? That's precisely why I don't like it!"

"I'll start slower. You know, we could have been done with this a long time ago if you would just stop arguing with me about it."

"Fine," she said reluctantly as she had aimed the gun at him.

It was the longest three seconds of her life as she waited for any sign of Damon moving. Just when she needed to see her eyes burned fighting not to blink. As she strained to hear the rustle of leaves or the snap of a twig only six loud throbs of her heart echoed in her ears. And then she saw the slight lean forward and the raising of his right foot. It felt like it had taken forever for her finger to get the idea that she wanted it to shoot. She tried so hard not to flinch at the sound of the gun but she must have because suddenly Addie wasn't looking at Damon anymore but the smell of ginger, cloves, and sandalwood and the gentle touch at her shoulder told him he was behind her. And the bullet buried itself an inch deep into the tree he had stood by.

"You've got to admit that every now and then I do somethings that you just kinda want to shoot me for," Damon insisted in the present.

Addie scowled as she leaned back into his chest. "At one point I wanted to put a bullet through you for simply existing. Now, no, I'd really rather not shoot my boyfriend. I find the silent treatment sends an effective enough message when I'm angry with you."

His brows knitted together and three creases appeared on his forehead as he pretended to think really hard. Gradually he concluded, "I'm fairly certain you favor the 'berate until blue' treatment."

"No, that's just when I'm annoyed or bothered by you. When I'm truly and genuinely angry at you I use the silent treatment."

He grinned at her like a child who had just gotten away with stealing from the cookie jar. "So, I'm not in trouble for making you shoot at me?"

Her lips pressed into a thin hard line. Eventually she grumbled, "You couldn't have just made my life easier and wanted to be shot at when I wanted to shoot you?"

"You would have killed me at that point so I'm gonna go with no," laughed Damon as he pulled his hands from her pockets to protectively across his arms over her.

Addie sighed, "You think we'll ever want the same thing at the same time?"

"Nope," he admitted certainly, emphasizing the 'puh' sound.

She scoffed and turned her head to look up at him, "You're supposed to be encouraging."

"Yeah but then I'd be lying. You might not always like it, but you're someone who always wants and deserves the truth. The truth is that we are both selfish people who are always going to want more. But we want different _mores_ ," mused Damon.

"Ok, I do want the truth but I don't want cryptic clues to figure out. I met my yearly quota of solving riddles when we translated the hieroglyphs in the cave. What the hell are different mores?"

He shrugged. "Could be changing things. Could be fixed things. We both knew when we started this that I want more time with you and you want more of a human life than I can give you. Not that I would ever change my mind or regret my decision but I was an idiot to make some 15 year agreement with you and think I could simply walk away."

That had quickly taken a sour turn.

"What does that mean? You can't simply walk away? Are you gonna become like my stalker or something?" she jested, trying to lighten the mood.

"No, of course not."

"Are you sure? We have discussed your stalkerish tendencies, right? And there _was_ 145 years of Katherine," Addie said in a hushed tone, as if they were discussing something very taboo.

Damon gave a bitter bark of laughter, "The Katherine situation is a perfect example. I couldn't just walk away from her and I was only with her for months and I wasn't actually in love with her and she screwed with my head and she was fucking my brother. I've accepted the fact that I'm going to love you for the rest of my life. I just haven't exactly figured out how I'm going to handle not being able to tell and show you."

"This is depressing," she remarked monotonously. There was no way she had the energy to go into a deep, meaningful, bittersweet discussion of the future with the man who, only hours before, had forced her to shoot at him. "And you distracted me. For like the five hundredth time today," she lightly criticized. "I was telling you why you should be glad I was focusing on Jupiter even though it's a crappy time to view it instead of on you."

"I'm over being jealous of Jupiter. In fact, I've got one word that will make Jupiter the last thing on your mind," he slyly grinned.

Addie twisted in his hold to look at him, her eyes narrowing suspiciously. "What?"

"S'mores."

Burying one hand in his hair to bring his head down and using the other to balance against his shoulders she pushed onto her toes and surprised him with a searing kiss. Damon made a noise of disappointment as she pulled away but he was soon smiling as he saw her beaming up at him like it was Christmas morning.

"If you've got s'mores Jupiter has got nothing on you."

* * *

"Are you still eating those or are you just playing with the fire now?" Damon reprimanded as he watched Addie twice catch a marshmallow on fire and blow it out only to set it ablaze again.

"Well, we're out of chocolate and I don't like marshmallows so I suppose the later," she surmised, pushing at the ground to get the hammock swinging again. It had been the object taking up the most room in the pack Damon had been carrying. When he had finally popped up the bobble of metal and cloth and she saw it was a portable hammock she couldn't resist asking if he was going to pull a lamp out his bag like Mary Poppins next.

"First of all, I didn't actually expect you to go through five bars of chocolate. Secondly, we wouldn't have run out of chocolate if someone made their s'mores like a normal person instead of replacing the graham crackers with more chocolate. Third, I have never seen you eat so enthusiastically, like your stomach was a bottomless pit, as I just did. You can't tell me you don't like marshmallows. That's what the little white glob in _chocolate sandwich_ was," countered Damon.

The sweet she was currently burning fell off the stick she was using to keep it close to the heat. Her lips twitched as it burst into blue and orange flames. "I only like toasted marshmallows but even then I only like the outside shell when it becomes a light, golden brown. At that point the real middle is still like a regular marshmallow and I don't like it."

Seriously he asked, "Have you ever considered that you might have a problem with food?"

"Have you ever considered that you just have a problem with my quirks and habits," retorted Addie as she held the stick up for him to spear another one of the treats onto it.

"Yes. I've conclude that I do have a problem with them but you should probably have a problem with some of them too. Let me see that," he confessed as he took the stick from her, placed a marshmallow on it and carefully directed it towards the fire. The trick was to toast right at the embers, the hottest part of the fire and where it was less likely to turn into a flaming mess.

"I figure when my body finally rebels against my eating habits then I'll change them. You know, like when I get high cholesterol then I'll worry about eating fatty foods or whatever. Instead of taking preventative measures, I prefer to just treat my body with whatever afflicts it. It's perhaps not the healthiest approach but I figure I'm going to die of _something_ someday. If I die a few years early because I actually enjoyed what I ate then it's worth it," she explained, hoping it would get him to back off on pushing the health food.

Damon pulled the marshmallow out of the fire and inspected it; most of what was white was covered by a soft gold. Between his index finger and his thumb he carefully slid off the crunchy layer of marshmallow and some of what had melted just beneath the surface. "So, it wouldn't be the end of the world if you got diabetes from eating a whole bag of these?" he asked as he held the slightly toasted part of the marshmallow to her lips. Addie took it from him, her teeth gently grazing the pads of his fingers to get all of the melted bits. Spying a string of gooey sugar she missed on his index finger her tongue darted out to get it but Damon was faster. "Mm-mmm," he objected as he sucked the tip of the digit clean. As he stuck what was left of the confection into the fire again he cheekily said, "See, sticky fingers is my reward for perfectly toasting and feeding you marshmallows."

Addie rolled her eyes as she made the hammock swing harder. "I'm supposed to believe that you're feeding me perfectly toasted marshmallows out of the goodness of your heart expecting no compensation but sticky fingers?"

"Mhm," he nodded, holding the next layer of the marshmallow he had toasted out to her.

She watched him skeptically as she ate the treat. Licking some left on her lip she decided, "I don't buy it. There's gotta be an ulterior motive."

"Really?" Damon snorted as he put another marshmallow on the stick and into the fire.

"You're not denying it!" she smirked. He gave her an innocent, quizzical look. Desperately she grabbed at his bare bicep with both hands, making sure to give the sculpted muscle an extra squeeze. Stroking his ego always helped in getting her way. Resting her cheek against his shoulder Addie looked up at him with wide puppy dog eyes and begged, "Please tell me what you get out of this."

"Sticky fingers," he replied casually, making sure his eyes stayed on the fire. He'd be a sucker if he didn't know exactly what she was doing. He knew she was pouting at his answer as he finished roasting the marshmallow and carefully stripped off the outer shell. Damon snickered as he had to bump the sugary mess against her lips a couple of times before she would eat it. And, as if on cue, she gave a pleasurable sigh just before she swallow. He smirked as he admitted, "And I do get that out it."

"What?" she asked confused as to what he could be referring to.

He shook his head in slight amusement as he returned the treat to the heat. Unabashedly he explained, "Every time you take a bite you make this little moan of delight. I noticed it when you were eating the s'mores. You don't do it when you eat just chocolate or anything else, at least not every single bite, so I was wondering if it was your warped definition of a s'more or just marshmallows in general that made you do it. Turns out you _really_ like marshmallows. Or you're just thinking about me naked every time you take a bite."

"I'm just thinking about you naked every time I take a bite," she nodded, trying to sound cool and composed despite the flushing of her cheeks.

"Bit of a role reversal don't you think? I mean, I _am_ the vampire."

"True but I'm dating this vampire who kinda has this kink about being bitten so I have to work on my biting skills."

"It's not a kink."

"Biting has its own paraphilia term and is considered a mild form of sadism. Odaxelagnia is a kink," Addie stated factually.

Damon laughed long and deep. "Why am I not at all shocked that you would know the paraphilia term?"

"Because my sexual knowledge is coming from Mr. Deviant and so it's not surprising that I would want to reference what is the status quo, so to speak."

He chuckled again. "I love how there is no such thing as a rhetorical question for you. You have an answer for everything. My reputation and your overactive imagination is probably generating a lot more perceived deviance in my past then there actually was. Trust me I'm not going to do anything that weird to you. I must argue that since half the population gets off on biting it's not a kink."

"You're quite obverse to it being considered a kink," she noted.

"Frankly, I don't care what you call it. I just don't want _you_ thinking it's something bad or something you should be ashamed of," he told her as he moved them so they were laying in the hammock, the natural bowing pushing Addie against him.

"Mmm… I don't have an opinion on it. Whatever people get up to behind closed doors it's their private business as long as it's between consenting parties and doesn't involve kids. If there's no victim, there's no foul but there isn't a batter so there can't be any home runs. Just because I don't like to swim in the ocean doesn't mean we should close all the beaches on the west coast," she expressed as she tangled herself with him.

Damon stared at her blankly for a few moments. Truly he always strived to do his best in following along with her. While he had gotten a lot better at it there were still times when Addie was just so _Addie_. He had no clue what she was saying with the baseball metaphor. It was just as much possible as impossible that he had understood what she had meant with the ocean and beaches. He didn't think any of what she had said was important though, at least she wasn't looking at him like it was.

Rather than try to make sense of her nonsense he decided to tease her about what he could understand. Very obviously he moved in for a kiss only to stop short a hair's width from target. Aloud he wondered, "Does what people get up to have to be done behind closed doors? Because technically…"

Addie huffed dramatically as she pulled away from him pouting, "You're a dick. I didn't want to kiss you in the middle of nowhere under a bright, starry sky anyways."

He chuckled as she poked her tongue out at him, "Very mature."

"Thanks," she retorted brightly, resting her head on his chest, "that means a lot coming from the guy who is so mature that he needs to drive his girlfriend four hours from home all of a sudden and keep her distracted all day and night from whatever is really going on."

"Yes, I agree, my maturity level is astounding," Damon replied after a beat in attempts to stall. He didn't want to tell her if he didn't have to.

"Stefan found out about us giving back the two brothers?" she asked quietly.

"Yep." It wasn't a lie but she didn't ask for an answer requiring more than one syllable.

"Who's dead?"

That was a question he hadn't been anticipating. First Elena had suggested Stefan killed the medical examiner and now Addie simply assumed he killed someone simply because he was upset. Had Stefan really strayed that far? Had he really become so much like his big brother?

"Bill Forbes, sorta. Tyler attacked him last night. Dr. Fell used some vampire blood to heal him. When he was leaving the hospital someone offed him with a knife to the chest. He's in transition now. We don't know who did it." And Addie didn't need to know that the stake used on the medical examiner matched the set Ric kept in his car or that the knife used on Bill was from Ric's stash. He didn't want her worrying about psycho killing doctors.

"What did Stefan do?"

"I don't imagine he particularly had any strong feelings about the news, if he even knows," Damon answered, purposely misinterpreting her question.

"Yeah, I don't care about that. How bad was the damage when your brother found out about the coffins?"

"Oh! That! Um...he had already punched me once this morning over something Elena said yesterday. I figured anything you did to protect me would probably end with him showing me my own bowels so I sent him in Klaus' direction and we got the hell out of town," he broadly summarized, talking extremely quickly.

Addie voice was hard and icy when she asked, "What did my sister say?"

"I tell you we're on the run from Stefan and the most important part of the story is what your sister said?" He had been thinking of a way to avoid that question all day.

While the relationship between Addie and Elena was always strained Damon didn't want to add anymore tension, especially with Addie living at home. Before he and Addie were even involved, he knew he was a sensitive subject between the two sisters every time Addie got annoyed or bothered by his brief interest in Elena. When Elena started noticing Addie and Damon together, she started to show a little more interest in him. Addie became extremely pissed off with her sister for getting up Damon's hopes when she knew Elena would choose Stefan in the end. Eventually he realized which sister he really wanted but it had taken him a really long time to convince Addie he was over Elena and only wanted her. They reached an odd limbo state of peace with Stefan and Elena when Damon and Addie officially got together. That calm had broken when Stefan left with Klaus. Addie had become, in Damon's opinion, more jealous. Since Addie no longer snooped through her sister's diary neither of them really knew where Elena stood.

However, Damon wasn't stupid. Perhaps flirting with Elena all summer had been a really bad decision in hindsight. And despite Addie coming back, he had noticed Elena kind of attaching herself more to him. Partially, in her defense and why Damon couldn't really be bothered by what Elena was doing, as far as she knew he was single. To the public he and Addie were not a couple utterly and completely in love. While going after your sister's ex wasn't exactly cool, Damon couldn't judge because he had done far worse.

"Not the most important part but definitely the most interesting part," Addie replied mildly.

"I don't exactly know what she said. You'd have to ask Stefan or Elena." And it was true enough. He only knew that Elena said something along the lines about caring for him the same way she cared for Stefan. Too surprised by the blow Damon had missed most of what Stefan had vented.

"Have you heard anything since you sent him to Klaus?"

"A thing about being in the middle of nowhere is spotty cell reception. I've missed a couple calls. A few texts did manage to come through. Klaus enjoyed being the one to tell Stefan. There were the expected ones from my brother. He doesn't mention you at all, which is good. Although, he said I'm going to have one hell of a party to clean up after so I'm reckoning that's not so good for my house," Damon reflected.

A chill ran down Addie's back that had nothing to do with the cold. "Your poor Persian rugs," she said sadly.

"It all comes back to being Klaus' fault. The sooner we stop him the sooner I can stop worrying about house decor," he sighed, grateful to be on exactly on the same wavelength as her when he really needed her. "I'd consider today a win for us."

"We fled town from your brother who glocked you over something my sister said which means it's probably something that I should be upset about. We define 'win' very differently."

Damon frowned; he didn't want Addie thinking that just because Stefan was jealous she should be. "You realize if you get upset about it you'll be taking emotional cues from someone who can't control their own."

"Because you can control your emotions? Please, share this profound, new wisdom that absolutely nobody else knows how to do!" she retorted sardonically.

"Fine, Ads. Copy Stefan. Be angry with your sister for a reason you don't even know. It completely made up in your head, just like blaming her for everyone who has ever died."

Addie bit down on her tongue to keep from responding right away. Once she played out the probable conversation in her head she allowed herself to speak. "We are the only two people around for… I don't know how far. But cell reception is crappy and we're four hours from home. I really don't think -"

The rest of her words were drowned out by a loud clap of thunder. As if a dam suddenly released sheets of rain poured from the sky. The fire hissed and sizzled as the water beat down the roaring flames. Addie and Damon fumbled over each other as they scrambled to get out of the rocking hammock.

"The clouds aren't moving towards us. It's not going to rain," Addie scowled in a mock imitation of Damon as she stared up at the sky, holding up the back of his jacket to protect her face. The clouds in the distances when they arrived had slowly moved their way overheard, becoming darker and denser.

"Just go to the tent before we drown," he grumbled as water rolled into his eyes. Damon would have simple moved and ignored her pointing out his error but with the dwindling fire on one side, the hammock on the other and Addie in front of him, a direct path to shelter was blocked.

They took off at a light jog to the grey and black dome. Thankfully the roots of foliage and compact earth was still absorbing the water and they weren't slipping and sliding through mud. Damon made quick work of the zipper at the top of the flap that could be opened and they clamored in.

"Always thought it would be a brilliant idea to go camping in the middle of the rain," she mumbled as she slipped off Damon's jacket. It had managed to mostly repel the rain. Unfortunately, everything the jacket hadn't covered, including her shoes, was soaked.

The sound of rain pelting the thin waterproof tent would have drowned out what she had said to the human ear but Damon caught it.

"Well, when it said there was a 10% chance I figured that was a pretty safe bet. If it did rain I thought it would be a few sprinkles, not the beginning of 40 days and 40 nights of flooding," he said defensively.

"You're a fucking genius," she glowered.

"And you're extra bitchy because you're in wet clothes," Damon replied with a sweet smile. "Don't worry. I'll blame nature and not you for anything you may say."

"Or you could blame yourself for deciding to camp when there was a chance of rain," Addie snapped irritably.

His lips pursed as he considered this. "No," he determined, "this one's nature's fault. See, when I decided to go camping with a 90% guarantee that it wouldn't rain. Ninety percent is considered an 'A,' which is above and beyond expectations. My decision was almost as close to perfect as you can get. Nature is the one who threw everything off balance by deciding to rain."

Damon had to resist the urge to smile as Addie's eyes had grew more and more narrow the more he talked. She crossed her arms and inhaled deeply; he could see the twitch in her jaw. Her patience was almost at its limit.

"That makes no sense," she said flatly, trying to control her emotions.

"So when I don't make sense I'm wrong but when you don't make sense you're right? _That_ doesn't make sense, Addison," he chastised, being comically serious.

"I'm right because I'm right! It's not my fault if you can't make sense of it!"

He sighed as he nodded in begrudging agreement, "How can I possibly argue with that logic? I should know that you're _always_ right."

"Yes, you should," Addie grumbled irritably as she ran her fingers through her wet hair, trying to dry it.

"You are being so rational right now," Damon laughed.

"Shut up," she scowled, hurling his jacket at him. "We're camping in the middle of the fucking rain and I'm soaked. I've earned irrationality!"

"But I haven't earned the right to not make sense? I'm even more soaked than you are!"

Her eyes bugged out at him incredulously. "It's your fault you're soaked!"

"Because I made it rain?!" It was just too much fun irritating her.

"Because you decided to camp with the possibility of rain!"

"Ohhhhh!" he nodded. "Yeah, I can see how me being soaked is my own fault."

Addie's lips pinched while Damon's twisted into an impish grin. She did not find him nearly as amusing as he found himself. When he started unzipping the tent, allowing some rain to enter, she was certain he had gone mad. If he wanted to go romp around in the rain that was fine with her, as long as he zipped the tent back up, which he did. Just as soon as it had closed he was opening the entrance flap again.

"What are-"

"Needed this," explained Damon as he dropped the backpack she had carried to the ground and sealed the tent again.

"Anything in that is waterlogged," she retorted smartly.

He shook his head slightly, water dripping from his hair as he silently chuckled; she was cute when she was moody. Sometimes. Damon knelt down and opened the bag. "It's waterproof, love."

Unable to criticize him she huffed, "Don't suppose you have a towel in your mini magic carpet bag?"

"Unfortunately not. I've got something to make you feel a little better though. Dry clothes."

"You spent all that time arguing with me instead of giving me dry clothes?!" she shrieked.

Damon pulled one hand from the sack and rubbed at his ear as if her volume had hurt to hear. "Ow."

Pouting slightly, she crossed her arms and mumbled, "Sorry."

He gave her a quick, reassuring wink as he began to unpack the bag. It was a good thing he'd packed his lucky, black and yellow smiley face boxers that Addie loved; perhaps they would put her in a better mood. He handed her the boxers, a pair of red boyshorts and a forest green John Varvatos tee. On a whim he'd reluctantly agreed to go underwear shopping with Addie since she had a greater interest in his underwear collection than he did and she didn't like when he wore red cotton boxers. For himself he had packed a pair of plaid black and white, silk ones she had picked out on that shopping expedition.

Addie raised both her eyebrows at him when he didn't move after a few moments of pointedly staring at him. "You expect me to change in here? With you?"

Her modesty was endearing but a little impractical at times. He cocked an eyebrow at her and replied in the same tone, "You expect me to go out there?"

After listening to the rain beat at the tent for a few seconds she sighed in defeat. "Fine. Just don't look!" she ordered sternly, pointing a finger in his face for emphasis.

"If I promise not to look can I change in here too or do I have to go outside, which would completely defeat the purpose of putting on dry clothes?"

"Then we'd both be naked… in the tent… at the same time…," Addie frowned.

"Yeah but nobody's looking at anything so it doesn't really count," Damon argued before smirking and teasing, "Well, you didn't promise not to look. I won't ask make you promise that; that'd be like depriving a man of water in the Sahharah."

"Your ego is the size of Mount Everest," she muttered, toeing off her shoes and leaving them by the tent entrance as to not track the bit of mud that had gotten on them through their temporary shelter.

Addie moved to a back corner of the tent, as far away from Damon as possible. Sodden and making her feet feel frozen she quickly peeled off her socks. Damon's jacket had protected the sleeves of her shirt but her damp hair had made the back of it slightly wet while the front was stuck to as she hadn't had the outer garment closed. She stripped the shirt and her bra to put on the shirt he had given her. It smelled like him and it was dry; Addie already felt a little better. And she hadn't even removed the clingy, disgusting skinny jeans. Once she peeled those off, which was not an easy task as they seemed to stick to her when wet and put on the dry boyshorts and her favorite pair of Damon's boxers she wasn't nearly as upset with him. She was still cold though. Damon might not get cold and would be fine just sleeping in his boxers but she was human and a victim of the elements.

"Are you dressed?" Addie asked as she folded her set clothes into a small pile.

"Hoping for a show?" he teased as he pulled out a plastic shopping bag from the backpack to place their wet clothes in.

"Not as much as you're hoping to give one. Are you dressed or not?"

"Course I am."

"Please tell me you brought blankets," she mumbled as she deposited her clothes into the bag he held out to her.

"Two person sleeping bag," he smirked, waggling his eyebrows at her as he set the bag in a corner by his muddy shoes.

She merely nodded at him. Sleeping with Damon was something she enjoyed because it kept her cool. Curling up with him on a cold night was fine when they were in a heated house but not when they were out in the woods with only a tent and sleeping bag to keep her warm.

Damon could sense Addie was still annoyed as he pulled out a compactly packed sleeping bag. He pulled it out of the compression sack holding it together and rolled the large, mummy style bag out, filling up the entire tent. Before he began to blow into one of the inflatable pillows he packed he dared to ask, "You're in dry clothes. Why are you still…." Wisely he stopped talking. Any time he said she was bitchy or in a bad mood it just made it even worse.

"My hair's still damp. And I'm cold," she whined, knowing she sounded like a petulant child. It was his fault she was both wet and cold, though.

He plugged the inflation piece to prevent air from escaping the pillow and tossed it to Addie. The sleeping bag didn't open like a bag but rather had a hole on the front of the bag for a person to slip in through. When they laid down, only their face would show and they wouldn't lose so much heat from their head. Damon jutted his chin towards the hole, implying she should get in to keep warm. She did that while he rummaged in the bag again.

In a refined, snooty voice Damon said, "I believe cheap Tennessee Whiskey may help the lady." With lavish gestures he produced and displayed a bottle of Jack Daniel's as if it were an expensive treasure. "It will dilate your blood vessels and bring warm blood to your skin."

"First of all, it's bourbon. Secondly, not all of us have gazillionaire money to spend on alcohol. Jack Daniel's is what the common people can afford that isn't swill. See, I can drink that and enjoy it rather than feel guilty about not building a well in Africa and having a $7000 shot. Thi-"

"The difference between you and me is that you're a good person and feel guilty. I'm the bad guy who would eat the people building the well, wash them down with a $7000 shot, call my girlfriend to tell her Jack Daniel's isn't bourbon but Tennessee whiskey swill and consider it a good day," Damon interrupted contemplatively as he waved the bottle in her face.

"It would actually be a very bad day because your girlfriend would get into an argument with you about how it's a straight bourbon made in Tennessee and whether or not it is swill is not the point. Jack is not to sip and savor for the flavor. You drink Jack for it's effects. _Normal_ people drink $7000 shots in tiny sips to enjoy the flavor and smoothness. Third, she's also going to have something to say about you killing well diggers. Fourth, it's rude to interru-"

Purposely, holding back a cheeky grin, he interjected, "Now if I'm drinking a $7000 shot I'm definitely going to be noticing the taste. I might night savor it but I'm not going to choke it down like Jack. When something hits around $300 a glass it usually starts to get a decent taste." Now he began poking her in the stomach with the bottom of the bottle.

"Ladies and gentlemen, my boyfriend the alcoholic," Addie announced, snatching the bottle from him if only to stop him from pestering her like five-year-old.

Damon gave her an innocent grin and shrugged. "It helps keep me from killing well diggers. Actually, let me see that," he mumbled as he took the alcohol back. He'd been in such a rush packing that morning that he'd forgotten blood bags. It hadn't been until Addie's second s'mores sans graham crackers that he noticed a faint tickle under his skin. That feeling, hunger, had grown into an aggravating itch, particularly in the back of his throat. He uncapped the bottle and drank until the irritation in his throat soothed. Just as the alcohol allowed the blood to flow more freely through Addie, it would do the same to the blood in his veins, taking the edge off until he could feed.

"It's rude to interrupt. Fourth, _really_? You actually brought alcohol out here?" she said, determined to finish her list of grievances.

"Mmm, my thought was 'we're out in the middle of nowhere so what the hell are we supposed to do besides drink for entertainment' but clearly that's not how you're thinking so I should probably abandon that ship of thought." He tapped at his chin as he tried to guess at what she might be thinking. "This is such a serene and calm place that drinking would just ruin the beauty and naturally intoxicating effect of nature"

Rolling her eyes, Addie took the bottle back from him and took several swallows. Her face scrunched up and she shuddered as she handed the bourbon back to him. Sipping was tolerable but gulping burned like hell. When the stinging finally stopped she looked accusatorially at Damon.

"You're trying to get me drunk. I'm in the middle of the woods with vampire who's trying to get me drunk. I'm a genius," she mumbled.

He held his hands up innocently and insisted, "I'm not trying to get you drunk. I only told you to drink to make you feel warm. I realize I might have overlooked a crucial human element in my haste to get you away from Stefan. I apologize. I've been trying to think of a solution but… we're stuck in this tent until the rain stops. Unless you want to get wet again. I know you'd rather be cold."

"It's not like I'm freezing," she muttered. She took another swallow before handing the drink back to Damon. As she watched him cap it she could see a sag to Damon's shoulders and his brows furrowed. Forgetting that she might get cold had made him really upset with himself. "You'll still snuggle with me, right?"

He shook his head slowly. "I'm not exactly loaded up on caffeine. We both know I'll just make you colder."

Addie tensed as a loud rumble of thunder shook the ground beneath her. Her fingers played with her hair anxiously. The rain she liked but not the thunder. Damon could read the displeasure on her face and caved.

"Fine, Ads," he grumbled before inflating the other inflatable pillow he'd brought. He had been so caught up in making sure Addie was safe in case Stefan decided to murder her that he had completely forgotten about the chilly October night. Damon tossed his pillow next to hers and slid into the sleeping bag next to her.

She curled up next to him, resting her head on his chest as he stuck both his hands behind his head. Her arm curled tightly around him at the clap of thunder. Enjoying the sounds of the rain she softly admitted, "The Jack made me feel a little warmer. Thank you."

"And put you in a better mood?" he asked hopefully.

Defensively she retorted, "I was wet." More gently she added, "I'm sorry. I know it's not your fault it's raining."

Damon chuckled and kissed the top of her damp hair; it smelled like the forest and rain. "I shouldn't have kept pushing your buttons. I'll admit; this wasn't exactly the romantic night I imagined."

"Sleeping on the ground in the middle of nowhere is romantic?" she scoffed.

"Under the right circumstances. A clear sky with shooting stars, a warm fire, you and me getting a long. I just figured us alone, spending some quality time together, it might…" he trailed off, exactly unsure of how to explain what he was hoping for. He hadn't said anything to Addie about it, especially because it had been something she'd feared, but things had felt different since she said she loved him.

The growing, awful silence that seemed to fester was thankfully broken by the ringing of Damon's phone. Thankful for the distraction he sat up and fumbled in the silence for the glowing screen. Looking at the caller ID he considered declining the call but that would likely only raise suspicion with his girlfriend.

"What?" he answered sharply. Addie frowned as she watched Damon tense slightly. "Slow down," he ordered the person on the other end of the line. "What happened?... Who did it?... How can he not know?!"

Addie pushed herself onto her elbows and concernedly asked, "What's going on?"

Damon simply shook his head and held up a finger; he'd tell her in a minute.

"Is he still dead?... I know there's something wrong with the ring but I'm four hours away. Get Caroline to do it…. Oh. Get Stefan to do it then…. Yes he will…. He'll do it…. He's just having a hissy fit because he lost his coffins. He'll stop long enough to help you…. No, he'll do it because it's you!..." Damon sighed impatiently and ran his hand through his hair, the annoying little habit he picked up from Addie. He shook his head helplessly as he said in a defeated voice, "Look, Elena, Alaric could awaken before I'd get back. He will die and bleed out. _Make_ Stefan do this for you unless you want to lose another family member. He still loves you. You can get him to do this for you."

"What happened?" Addie said softly as he tossed his phone to the side none too gently.

"Dr. Fell attacked Alaric and left him bleeding to death. Elena killed Alaric so he would come back to life since the ring protects him against supernatural creatures and she's a doppelganger. Oh, and Bill Forbes died rather than transitioned," he grumbles as he flopped onto his back. He pushed the air pillow and rested his head on the ground.

Addie stroked soothingly at his stomach; it was odd how much like a dog he was: loyal, loving, playful, protective, sharp biter, and he loved to be petted or stroked. Be it his hair, his chest, back, or arms, Damon loved the feeling of being touched. His eyes fluttered closed wearily.

"I thought you said he didn't know who attacked him."

"She was angry with the M.E. and offed him. She saved Bill to kill him, knowing he would come back to life. She knew about Ric's ring being able to bring him back so she probably thought if she killed him he'd come back to life. Maybe she's something supernatural and he would have. Maybe she's just a psychopath who wants to kill and figures that it's probably safest to "kill" vampires, which is why she was trying to turn Bill, because if they report being murdered it's not very believable. Same thing with Ric. How much more proof do you need that it was her? She kept her identity hidden from him so she can keep playing with him," Damon ranted, rubbing at his face.

She made soft hushing sounds and pulled his hands from his face so she could look into it. "We'll push Dr. Fell to number one on the to-do list as soon as this rain stops. I'm pretty sure we'd be flooded out if we tried to drive right now. Let's just not go killing anyone who might be able to kill us. She _might_ be supernatural and we might need a special way to kill her. Or she could just have really good skills. I mean, Alaric's a great hunter but if she hurt him that bad she has to have skill. We already know she has stealth from when she vervained you. I don't want you getting hurt, Damon."

"I'll be fine."

"I tell you that all the time and you don't believe me so why should I? I wouldn't know what to do if something happened to you," she admitted in a whisper.

Damon groaned and threw an arm over his eyes. Addie ran both her hands up his chest and to massage at his shoulders, the muscles slowly relaxing under her touch. He was very clearly distraught and she had an idea what was upsetting him.

"We really can go back, Damon," she told him. "We could be back before Alaric wakes. You could save him."

"Stefan'll do it if Elena just has the balls to ask. He still loves her. And he feels guilty about the bridge incident. He doesn't want to see her hurt any more than she already does. Alaric will be fine," he uttered, uncertain if he was reassuring her or himself.

"You don't just get to sit here and pout if you don't want to do something about it," she decided, stopping her shoulder massaged to rest her elbow on his chest and rest her chin in her palm.

"I'm not pouting. I'm not worried about Alaric," he lied so she wouldn't worry.

"Then what's bothering you?" her voice slightly trembling after a roar of thunder.

There was no way he was going to tell her that Elena was bothering him. He didn't want Addie thinking he spent that much time thinking about her sister because he didn't. It just kind of bugged him that Elena turned to him with every little problem she had. He wished Addie would come to him with more of her problems but she buried them. Elena coming to him with problems constantly was just irritating. He suppose he brought that upon himself by always being there for her over the summer. It was fine when he hadn't had Addie around to take care of and worry about but Elena was his brother's girl. Stefan needed to get his shit together and take Elena off Damon's hands before his girlfriend got jealous and pissy.

He decided to go with the easy answer of distraction. Damon cupped her face with both hands and slowly brought her face to his and gently kissed her. "I'm just a little bothered that there has been very much of that today," he murmured.

Addie narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him. She knew that wasn't the answer to the question she had been asking even if it was a truth. Deciding not to call him on it, she brushed wet hair off of his forehead and reasoned, "That doesn't go very well with arguing, which there has been a lot of today."

"I know but let's just forget that and do more of this," he said quietly, burying his finger in the back of her hair and insistently pressing his mouth to hers.

She turned away from him, frowning. "I'm not going to just kiss you, Damon."

A little more sharply than intended he asked, "Why not?"

"Because you wouldn't let me just kiss away and ignore whatever was bothering me. If I have to confront my issues, so should you."

"It's just been a crappy night, Addie. Am I not aloud to just generally be in a negative move?" grumbled Damon, letting go of her and covering his face again.

"Of course you are," she replied a little coolly as she turned her back to him, using one of the inflatable pillows.

He sighed heavily and fought to keep the annoyance out of his tone, "Don't be like that."

Thunder sounded from the sky and every part of Addie stiffened, even her voice. "I'm not being like anything, Damon."

"Yeah, you are and you have been ever since you said you loved me," he retorted, accidentally letting the last part slip.

After a long, tense silence she curtly demanded, "What?"

Damon pushed a hand through his damp hair. He had to tell her; there was no way she was going to let it go. "It's like you're pushing me away. Like you're…" he trailed off unable able to finish, to say it felt like she was trying to sabotage things between them.

"Me?! You're the one who has been purposely pissing me off and making fun of me for ever telling you in the first place!" she retorted. He had gotten into the habit of giving her a cheeky, sly, knowing smile every time he said 'I love you' that made her feel humiliated each time.

Damon's eyebrows furrowed and his eyes darted round the dark tent quickly as he tried to recall when the hell he had made fun of her. Everything in his world just seemed brighter and better with her having said those words. He'd never make fun of her. Unable to come up with an explanation he finally just asked, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"You know!" Addie snipped. "The way you look at me when you say it."

"I'm not making fun of you! I've always looked at you like that. You're the one who's reverted back to turning into a tomato and acting all weird whenever I say 'I love you.' You've got the problems with the words. Whatever you think is going on is all in your head!" he exclaimed in exasperation. Of course Addie had flipped out after what she had said and gone all paranoid.

She scoffed, "No, you do it to make me uncomfortable!"

"Why would I do that, Ads? I do anything you'll let me do to make your life easier and better! I specifically haven't brought up what you said even though I'm dying to discuss it just because I know it would be uncomfortable for you. You are the one who has been acting strange and different. Slipping out to run before I wake in the morning. Staying around everyone until you absolutely have to go to bed so we have minimal contact. Addie, you told me you were studying for you stupid test and proceeded to flip through your index cards upside down. You're pushing me away," he finally accused at the end of his defensive rant.

A crackle of thunder ripped through the air, making Addie jump. Damon interlaced his finger with hers and gave a reassuring squeeze, receiving a light squeeze back.

"I was preparing my mind for the super challenge of the exam by forcing it to read upside down," she sassed.

"Dodging the issue in true Addie fashion," he remarked bitterly.

"Yep," she readily agreed.

Damon rolled his eyes at the ridiculousness of the situation. "Fine, Addie. Keep acting like a child. Don't discuss whatever issues you are having with me."

"I will, thank you. Not that I needed your permission."

"I wasn't being serious. You _do_ realize that this is exactly you pushing me away," he chided.

She shrugged the shoulder she wasn't laying on. "Now I'm doing it just to be a pain in the ass."

He scowled. Payback was a bitch. Just as she hadn't been in a mood for his antagonizing earlier, he wasn't in the mood for her immaturity. "Consider yourself a success. You do know relationships end due to poor communication."

"Well, we've lasted this long with poor communication."

"And you'd think our skills would evolve with time."

"Well, this relationship is quite atypical so not necessarily. "

"Sixteen. Sixteen. Sixteen," he lamented repeatedly under his breath. Sometimes he forgot he was dealing with a highly stubborn and occasionally unreasonable teenager.

"Excuse me?" she snapped, suddenly rolling over to glower at him.

"Your age. You're sixteen," he said calmly and casually.

"You're just now realizing that?!"

Damon shook his head, "Of course not. I just have to remind myself sometimes. There might be a few years in age difference and I need to remember that sometimes you may not have the same level of maturity."

Addie blinked several times before confusedly asking, "You threaten to shoot yourself if I don't shoot at you and _my_ maturity is the one in question?"

"Yep."

"Fine. Things have just felt too… _real_ since I told you that. I mean, it was one thing for us to come up with a plan together but for us to actually carry it out together? I honestly expected you to still do whatever you thought was safest for me. And you stopped trying to trick me into eating poison. That was like… more than annoying little quirk you changed for me. And I've admitted these feelings. And you were so happy. And… And… And… this is real. This relationship is… is... an actual relationship," Addie stammered, turning away from his piercing gaze.

Sardonically he quipped, "And before you were a five-year-old who thought her first boy friend was her first _boyfriend_."

"No," she said slowly, "you are most certainly not my first male friend."

"Wasn't being literal. Your problem is that this feels too real? What does that even mean?"

"If I can only break up with you for abuse, cheating, or drugging me… this could, if you don't end things, actually last for the next 14 years," she mumbled.

"Those are your rules. Addie, this isn't some contract; you can break up with me whenever. I obviously don't want you to be with me if it's not making you happy. Yeah, I'd like you to give me a chance to make you happy again but if that's not what you want then that's fine.," Damon reiterated from when they first began to date. Of course Addie with her her fear of commitment would start to freak as soon as she saw the possibility of their relationship actually going somewhere.

"What if I don't want to stay in Mystic Falls after high school?"

"Then we won't."

"You'd follow me? Leave Stefan behind?" she muttered, surprised.

Damon sighed; he hated how insecure she was. "Of course, Addie. I love you. For me, I have a thousand life times but only 14 years with you. That trumps everything."

That was a lot of pressure. What if Damon ended up not being happy in their relationship?

After she didn't respond and all that could be heard was the occasional grumble of thunder at which they would both squeeze the others hand, Damon as a source of comfort and Addie looking for a source of reassurance and protection, he noted, "You're being very odd with all this pessimistic talk about us wanting different things and an aversion this being serious. Is something more bothering you?"

"No," she said softly, "I just want you."

"You have me," insisted Damon.

"I know but… it just doesn't feel like that sometimes."

Uncertain of what more he was supposed to do, Damon rolled so her back was against his chest and wrapped a protective arm around her waist.

* * *

 **A/N: OMG! I love you guys! The responses to the last chapter were amazing and had me glowing for days. I kept going back to them every time I kept feeling down and didn't feel like writing. I haven't gotten a chance to respond but I will tonight/tomorrow. If only every chapter was like that.**

 **I don't expect that kind of response to this chapter. It is a mess. I don't know how it turned into a piece of fluff or whatever. It's a combination of writing on three trans-Atlantic flights, sleeping pills at night that don't work and stimulants during the day to keep me awake. Apparently you can have insomnia and narcolepsy. I'm up at 5AM to finish and post this because I didn't post last week and I want to be fair to you guys but I think it just deteriorated the quality of the writing. It should improve once I move back into Mystic Falls.**

 **Thank you all so much for following, reading, adding this to your favorites! If the mood strikes you, please, please, please, please comment. They really keep me motivated to keep writing, which is what I need right now in my crazy schedule.**

 **And someone wanted more songs to go with Hostage Control so I present Jupiter, originally worked on by the person who the Control series was requested by but passed while I was still writing the first installment.** **youtu. be/c4bi_Ylcipc**


	17. Chapter 16

Odd and peculiar were was just two of the many words Addie would use to describe her boyfriend but he had been acting particularly unusual since their camping fiasco. He had accused her of pushing him away so she had made a point of spending more time alone in her room, where he could pop in and they could spend time together but he had only been coming by quite late, around the time she was ready for bed. He probably only even did that so she wouldn't have nightmares. The defensive training had become a little more relaxed once he got rid of the ten mile run and she proved to him that she could handle herself against him in a hand to hand combat situation if he didn't use too much of his vampire advantages, it would be unrealistic to expect her to ever defend herself against him at his full power. However, he had once again become very insistent and assertive about her strength and combat training. He argued that now that she wasn't studying for the PSAT she had time for more important things. Each session left her emotionally and physically exhausted. And she still had to go to school. The only positive thing were nightly massages, his fingers deftly easing the pain of her sore muscles. Alaric had been quite supportive of Damon pushing her to the point of exhaustion each morning. Addie suspected it was because they were concerned about the "unknown" killer on the loose.

Damon was still convinced that Meredith Fell was the one attacking people. Alaric wasn't sure what to believe. Elena was convinced that Alaric's luck with women couldn't be that bad. The stake that had been used against the medical examiner had match the stash of weapons of Alaric's that he kept in Damon's trunk. Damon argued that his car was at the charitable fundraiser where she had a spat with her ex-boyfriend, who ended up dead. She had access to his car and had motive. He was still convinced the doctor had been trying to turn Bill Forbes into a vampire and stole one of Ric's knife's so he would take the blame if the cops got too nosy. In his theory, Dr. Fell was some unknown supernatural creature since Alric had told her the ring protected him from death at their hands and she wanted to get a kick out of killing him over and over again.

Addie believed her boyfriend had a particularly active imagination and could use it to make two plus two equal five if he really wanted to. Once Damon had made up his mind it wasn't easily swayed. Elena, on the other hand, couldn't make up her mind. While Elena had been able to convince Stefan to heal Alaric, it kind of bothered Addie that her sister's first instinct was to turn to Damon. Closer examination over the next few days showed an annoying pattern. Elena went to Damon with everything, good or bad. She needed an oil changed. Damon. As soon as they got back from camping who had Elena run to, dramatically bawling about Caroline's dad dying? Damon. The worst part was that he just accepted all of it with no problem. Damon never did _Addie's_ oil change…. Of course he had given her a brand new car less than two months ago and she hadn't put enough miles on it to need one. Still.

The driveway was empty but perhaps Damon was parked in the garage. That wouldn't be unusual. And it wasn't like she was _spying_ on her boyfriend or checking up on him, he just hadn't been answering his phone or been at the Grill and she was concerned about him, especially since he had been acting so off.

Prepared for a reprimand for being at the boardinghouse, where Klaus was invited in, Addie knocked on the old, heavy door. When no one answered she repeated this processes louder, despite knowing that was pointless. Damon either wasn't home or he was ignoring her. He wasn't the type to give the silent treatment but she had no clue where he could be.

Addie briefly debated the morality of entering the home while no one was there as she selected the proper key on her keychain. It wasn't like she hadn't come and gone and roamed the house without anyone being there before. The mansion had come to feel like home in the time she spent staying with Damon. But she wasn't staying with him anymore. And Stefan was living in the house again and if his humanity was on then that could mean he could care if she was there. Though, he had never seemed to mind her near constant presence before he had left with Klaus. Or if he had said something to Damon about it, Damon definitely hadn't told her.

Deciding not to concern herself with Stefan's feeling - he definitely hadn't considered anyone else's feeling when he almost drove Elena off the bridge - Addie quietly entered the house.

"Hello? Anyone home?" she called out.

Unsurprised by the responding silence Addie headed to the study, where Damon was most likely to go first upon his return. Dropping into the plush couch she pulled out her cellphone and began to play Sudoku while she waited. She quickly became so absorbed in the game that she didn't hear the door or the conversation between the people who entered about an hour later.

"Hey!" she said in a whiney gasp when the device was suddenly snatched from her hands.

Damon leered down at her, jaw clenched, lips pressed into a hard line and a vein throbbing along his temple. Addie felt herself scoot back into the couch a little bit, wishing it would simply swallow her up. Damon wasn't just angry. It was pure fury that flickered in his piercing blue eyes.

Through clenched teeth he softly demanded, "What the hell are you doing here?"

It was difficult to swallow past the lump that had formed in her throat. This was Damon, though. No matter how mad he was, he wouldn't hurt her. Trying not to let his mood affect her, Addie made a conscious effort to make sure she sounded extra sweet when she answered, "Waiting for you. I've been… just… is there anything you want to tell me? Is something going on?"

"No." With that single word she sensed a grayness surrounding Damon.

"You're not telling me something."

He scowled. Screw whatever the hell made her sensitive to vampires lying or deceiving; it was precisely why he had been avoiding her. If she asked him no questions, he told her no lies. Technically, he wasn't deceiving her if he didn't tell her what he was up to. He wasn't trying to make her believe everything was ok when it wasn't. Apparently that little loophole in her _superpower_ hadn't worked out for very long. His eyes closed to slits as he glared at her, determined to figure a way out of the situation. However, she knew he was hiding something and that something happened to be standing in the entryway to the study. It wasn't exactly like he could just order her to leave without out her figuring out what was up. Of course, she

Believing he was reducing the tension, Elijah made his way further into the room and greeted, "Addison. It is such a pleasure to see you again."

At the sound of the English accent Addie's head had snapped around to gape at the Original. The last she knew of him, he had helped Rebekah become acquainted with the 21st century. This was of course after he had betrayed Addie and her friends by savings Klaus' life but before Klaus had lovingly daggered his brother. She had never quite figured out his reasoning behind that.

"You're not in a pine box, daggered," she stated obviously.

"It was a Mahogany coffin," Elijah politely corrected. "Though, no, I'm not daggered."

Her eyes narrowed perceptively as she caught the quick, quizzical expression the Original gave Damon. She felt an unpleasant knotting in her stomach as her cheeks burned up in anger. Pointing an accusatory finger at Damon she hissed, "You."

Damon crossed his arms defensively and raised one shoulder in a noncommittal shrug. "And if I did?" he challenged.

" _Why_?"

"Klaus needs to be killed. The guy who most likely knows how to do that is the guy who already had a plan to kill him once," Damon explained reasonably, his voice eerily calm but his posture still conveying how upset he was. Addie had three acceptable places to be, with Bonnie, at school, or at home. How was he supposed to protect her if he didn't know where she was and she chose to frequent places where enemy vampires were invited in?

Addie snorted in disbelief and reminded him, " _You_ had a plan to kill Klaus. Yo-"

Abruptly cutting her off he snarled, "You fucked up that plan by telling Klaus all about it and that is the only reason he's still walking around today, leaving me with a need to find another method of killing him. Or did you forget about that?"

"To save your life! Or did you forget about that?" she retorted smartly, mimicking his tone. "If your reasoning is that Elijah had a plan to kill him so he should know how to kill Klaus again, by that logic _you_ should know how. You undaggered the guy who sold us out to Klaus on the basis of faulty logic!"

"My logic was that I have no fucking ideal how to kill Klaus but his brother, who has known him for 1000 years, probably knew his weaknesses. And Elijah has just as much reason to hate Klaus as we do. Klaus never reunited him with his family entirely and he killed their mother. He's primed for revenge," argued Damon. It was an odd role reversal for him to be the one championing Elijah. He had to wonder if it was simply Addie being hot headed or if he had truly made a mistake in undaggering the Original.

"I thought the plan was to leave Elijah daggered and use him as leverage against Klaus! How are we supposed to blackmail Klaus if our blackmail is undaggered?" she challenged.

"Klaus still wants the locked coffin. We control him as long as we have control of that," Damon pointed out.

"A threat is only good if you actually plan to follow through with it," Addie sneered at him. "Are we actually going to drop that box in the ocean? No."

"Look, we just need to stall and distract Klaus while Bonnie and her Mom work on getting it opened."

It was Addie's turn to cross her arms and pout as she glared back at Damon. Was he purposely being dense or did he not see what this was really all about? "Did I sleep through the discussion where we talked about you undaggering Elijah? Or have we reverted back to old habits and you simply don't care about what I think? I'm pretty certain we both agreed not to do anything without talking to the other first. I thought the plan was to leave Elijah daggered and use him as leverage against Klaus!"

"Well, see, I had the conversation with you in my head and I knew you wouldn't necessarily be rational about it so I decided to make the decision on my own."

She scoffed, looked up towards the heavens and rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Typical Damon," she spat. "And here I was thinking you were maturing and our relationship was progressing."

"Before I wouldn't have discussed anything with you. Now, if I know you're going to agree or if I believe I can persuade you to see things my way, we talk about it," Damon said as if he were offering a reasonable solution to a very complex problem. "I've been set in my ways for over a century and a half. You gotta give me credit for baby steps."

It was such a pitiful excuse that she couldn't muster up more than a cold glare. Instead Addie turned her focus to Elijah. "Why did you help Klaus educate your sister on all things modern so he could have her spy on me?"

"He promised to awaken the rest of my family if I did that. Had I known my repayment would actually be a dagger to the heart, I wouldn't have done him such a service. He said had no interest in hurting you and was quite clear that he would dagger Rebekah again should she hurt you. I didn't believe you to be in an immediate danger. Either way, I apologize for the role that I played in that situation," the Original professed in a very formal tone. He moved closer and held out his hand in a gesture of apology.

Addie stood up and moved to shake Elijah's hand. She still hadn't approved of what he had done but she didn't get any vibe to indicate that he was lying. As soon as the handshake finished Addie felt a possessive, protective arm wrap around her lower back as Damon tugged her back closer to him. She pushed his hand off of her hip. He didn't get to be annoying and over-protective. Still, he placed his hand on the small of her back, ready to move her out of harm's way if Elijah decided to attack.

"So do you have a plan on how to kill your brother?" she demanded of the elder vampire. When Addie caught his eyes flashing to Damon she snapped, "I want the truth. I don't want to know what only Damon wants me to know."

Slightly taken aback, Elijah nodded at her slowly. "Of course. I believe Damon has the right idea at the moment; whatever is in the coffin should help us kill Niklaus."

"Any idea of what is in that coffin?"

"I have also gathered information from Damon and Stefan on what has transpired while I was out of commission. From that and the new stories of ancient history that Niklaus has confessed to me I have an idea but I cannot say with 100% certainty that what I think may be in the coffin is correct," Elijah replied, trying to keep out information that wasn't directly related to her question, things Damon would not want her to know, like what they had just done that evening.

Annoyed that she obviously had to be more specific Addie huffed, "What do you think is in the box?"

"I believe it to be my mother's corpse."

Klaus had killed their mother a thousand years ago. Her corpse would be nothing more than a pile of bones. Struggling to understand she asked, "Why would Klaus cart around the remains of a woman who hated him and whom he killed over a millennia ago in a casket he can't even open?"

"That's essentially the point. My brother wants to make sure that coffin remains closed. My mother was a very powerful witch who hated what Niklaus was so much so that she tried intervening in his plans to make more hybrids from the other side. I speculate Niklaus believes she can come back and kill him."

Addie looked incredulously from Damon to Elijah and back to Damon again as she gawked, "Your plan of killing Klaus relies on a spirit crossing over from the other side and having a corporeal body instead of being just bones and we have to figure out how to open a magically locked coffin? You know, you've had some stupid plans but bringing the dead back to life has to top them. This woman already tried to kill Elena to prevent Klaus from making more hybrids."

"With Klaus dead she has no reason to want Elena dead. I know it sounds crazy but remember when the ghost were in town? The wreaked all kinds of havoc. It all started with Vickie, though; the Original Witch knew how to send her to our side. Why can't she do the same thing to herself?" Damon scowled as he defended his idea.

There wasn't really an answer she could give to that. Every time she thought she figured out the laws of the supernatural universe they seemed to change. Thankfully Damon's ringing cellphone saved her from having to answer.

"Unless you've opened my coffin we have nothing to talk about," he greeted the caller curtly. It had to be Bonnie.

The conversation was mostly one sided, with Damon adding the occasional grunt of acknowledgement. Addie studied his face carefully, noticing the corners of his mouth tip further and further down, his eyebrows knitting together and the three creases on his forehead that he always got when he was deep in thought. Just before hanging up he said, "I'll take care of it."

Tucking his phone away Damon looked knowingly at Elijah. Addie's lips pursed as she pouted. Of course Elijah had heard the other end of the conversation with his super hearing. Once again she was the only one in the dark.

"I better get home. I'll let you know if anything happens," Elijah said before quickly disappearing

"What was that about? What's going on?" she demanded, spinning on her heel to stare Damon in the face.

In place was the guarded mask of anger again. "You should go home."

Addie crossed her arms defensively. "Not until you tell me what's going on."

Damon sighed, running his hand through his hair. The mask briefly faded to show how tired he was; but, as soon as it appeared, it was gone. He wasn't in the mood for a fight. "Bonnie and her mom finally opened the coffin. Whatever was in it knocked both of them out before they could see what it was."

"So, your plan released an enemy?"

His mouth opened but he quickly closed it again. The fastest way to get her back to safety didn't involve bickering over little bullshit. Fuming he growled, "Go home, Ads."

"I suppose you're not going to tell me why you've been such a dick then."

"Addison, take your ass home right now or _I_ will take you," Damon hissed threateningly.

Her eyebrows rose slightly in surprise. It wasn't typical for Damon to speak to her in such a manner. However, as angry as he was she didn't doubt that would do as he said. Odd thing was that, for once, she honestly had no idea what she had done to upset him.

Addie held up her hands in surrender, "Fine. I can take a hint."

* * *

Addie finished her nightly routine with her methodical brushing of her teeth. When she returned to her room, ready for bed, she was surprised to find Damon already settled down. He definitely hadn't been in the room when she'd gone to the bathroom. Judging by his earlier behavior she hadn't anticipated him coming to hold and sleep with her just to keep away the nightmares.

Slowly approaching the bed Addie cautiously asked, "Are you still in dick mode?"

"No," he grumbled. Damon's arm slung across his eyes mostly hid his expression but she could still hear the trace of irritation in his voice.

"That sounds quite reassuring," she mumbled. Addie fumbled with plugging her phone into the charger, stalling to avoid laying down. Damon wouldn't hurt her but she didn't really feel like laying with him if he was just going to be an pain.

He sighed loudly, "I don't suppose you would just lay down and we could go to bed like a normal couple."

Sitting on the edge of the bed, her back towards him, Addie tentatively asked, "You were really pissed off at me. Are you still mad?"

"Guess that's a no on being a normal couple," he muttered bitter and sardonic. "I was extremely pissed off. You weren't safe."

"What? I was just at the boardinghouse."

"Where Klaus and Elijah have been invited in. We agreed that you'd stick to being with Bonnie or me or at school or here. At least here only Elijah can get in," Damon explained, his voice weary.

Damon's protectiveness, while appreciated, had become too extreme for Addie's liking. He was so unbelievably mad over such a little thing. Her mercurial boyfriend and his judgement were very baffling.

"I'm confused. Do you trust Elijah or not?"

He scoffed in disgust, "Of course not. However, I do trust him more than I trust Stefan right now. He's so absorbed in hating me right now that he's not exactly willing to work on vanquishing Klaus with me. I have no idea what his plan about Klaus is beyond pouting and sulking like an adolescent."

"What about vampire puberty and maturity?" Addie wondered aloud, distracted from her original thought.

"Yes, being unreasonable and overreacting are common in puberty. As you are so highly affected by both I thought you'd get that."

She looked over her shoulder to glare at him. Damon didn't respond except to raise a challenging eyebrow. "If you're just going to be a dick then you can just leave."

"I get to be a dick; you put yourself in serious danger! I'll try to scale it back, though," he amended.

"What danger?! Damon, you act like I'm going to be attacked at every turn. Is there something more than you undaggering Elijah that I don't know about? And if anyone gets to be a dick, it's me. Did I sleep through the discussion where we talked about you undaggering Elijah? Or have we reverted back to old habits and you simply don't care about what I think? I'm pretty certain we both agreed not to do anything without talking to the other first," ranted Addie. The fact that Damon had gone behind her back and basically ruined the progress that had been made when they worked together against Klaus made her so upset because she actually believed it was a step towards functional in their dysfunctional relationship.

Damon stifled a groan; he didn't want to argue about their relationship. He already knew Addie would win and then he'd just feel like shit. He decided to address the only part of her ramble he could fight. "You could be attacked at any moment. Klaus is running loose, even if we think we have control of him. I had just undaggered another Original who could kill you. And I probably should mention that you need to be even more cautious now. Elijah thought having to handle the rage of the siblings he has staked would keep Klaus distracted from the coffin issue and you. So now we have two more Original brothers and Rebekah to contend with."

"Plus whatever was unleashed from the coffin," Addie contributed sullenly. His overbearing manner made more sense now that he explained that he had awaken another Original. Damon didn't trust Elijah and if something happened to her because Damon had pulled the dagger from him, he'd never forgive himself. And he had decided that waking up three more ancient vampires, only one of whose temperament they knew about, was the route to take in killing Klaus.

"Yeah."

As she got into bed, laying on her side, facing away from Damon Addie decided, "I forgive you for being an overprotective dick. I'm still mad at you for undaggering Elijah without consulting me."

"Mmm… I don't remember apologizing for either one of those," he replied lightly, "nor do I plan on it."

"I know. You're too proud for that. Plus you're convinced you're right; you won''t change your mind. You're annoyed with me for going to the boardinghouse and I'm upset with you for making a move without discussing it with me," she pointed out. "This is the same old cycle. By morning we'll have both gotten over it."

Damon sighed as he moved so Addie's back was pressed against his chest and curled a protective arm around her waist. "If we have a road map for our fights, it's probably a signal we argue too much," he murmured as he buried his face in her hair, the familiar scent of cucumber melon filling his nose.

"We do. We always have. We both knew that we can frustrate the hell out of each other going into this," she said softly, pushing herself further into him and getting more comfortable.

"Before we bitched and bickered. Don't you think we're having more _real_ arguments?"

Addie gave a noncommittal hum. It was too late to start another argument. She'd figured they'd go back to just bickering once they started to work together. Clearly Damon was still going to fly solo, though. For her what they fought about mostly boiled down to how much he respected her independence and treated her like an equal. Damon would just use his usual argument of trying to protect her.

She was drifting between sleep and consciousness when Damon very quietly admitted, "I know I was supposed to discuss undaggering Elijah with you and our plan to distract Klaus. I just worry about you so much already that I thought one of us deserved to be a little less stressed out about your safety."

Addie wasn't certain if Damon had meant for her to hear that or not; it would have been easy to mistaken her for being asleep. "If you keep worrying so much, we're going to keep having real arguments."

It was a while before he concluded, "Then we're going to keep fighting. You're my everything. I can't fathom what would happen, who I would be if I lost you."

As much as he infuriated her, Damon could really tug at her heartstrings when he said things like that. She tried to sympathize with his concern. He was really important to her and she was concerned about him and his safety. It was a struggle to grasp how it was even possible to have feelings ten times stronger than what she had for him. Addie definitely didn't envy his heightened emotions.

* * *

 **A/N: I apologize for the short chapter. It just felt like the natural stopping place. Next chapter is really fun, especially if you like Klaus and Addie. Lots of things I could say about this and what I plan on changing but I think I need to redesign how I'm doing this. I also need to change when I'm writing this so I don't end up with messes like the last chapter. Comment or PM if you have ideas of what you want to see or what you'd like changed.**

 **Thank you all so much for reading, following, adding this to your favorites and commenting.**


	18. Chapter 17

The familiar dipping of the bed made Addie aware of Damon's presence before she actually saw him. She'd stirred when he'd untangled himself from her and the bed had shift earlier. There had been a soft mumble of discontent and a brief moment of reaching out for him before he had stroked her hair and quietly told her to go back to sleep, it was still early. He must have gone home to shower and change because his cologne was fresh and mixed with the clean scent of soap. Addie sighed contently at the closeness of him.

"Good morning," he whispered, brushing a kiss against her cheek.

"Suppose it's time for me to get up," pouted Addie, refusing to open her eyes.

Damon hummed contemplatively as his thumb brushed over her jutted lower lip. "Not just yet; we've got about thirty minutes. Last night your sister had a run in with Rebekah and Elijah. She wants to meet with Stefan and me to discuss our Original issues in half an hour. I thought you might want to be included."

"How considerate of you," she mumbled, "but staying asleep seems like a really appealing option."

He chuckled lowly as he nuzzled her jawline, "I think I can make waking up seem pretty appealing."

Addie fought back a grin; determined not to seem to eager. She felt a slight warmth from his body as his arms wrapped around her, holding her close. He must have had coffee. He placed a gentle kiss on her cheek, the edge of her lips and then his mouth was on hers. Her head tilted back to fully accept him, and her lips parted softly, her response slow and tender. Damon explored her mouth in the same manner, taking his time about it. It was not a kiss of heated passion or lust but a lazy one that spoke of comfort, love, and security. The hand splayed across her back gently pushed, arching her to him. Addie could feel the smirk at his lips when a quiver ran along her body at the sweet pleasure of feel her chest pressed to his.

Her hands traveled up his toned biceps, slipping under the sleeves of his shirt. She inhaled sharply as his lips moved to other places: the mall hollow below her ear, the length of her neck, the sensitive hollow above her fragile collarbone. Slowly Addie grip on his arms released and her own twined around his shoulder as one hand buried in his silky, dark hair. Addie moaned softly as he nipped where her neck and shoulder met.

"Shh," he hushed, gently pulling her earlobe between his teeth. "Stefan's already here."

At that she jerked away from him and hissed, "And you thought it would be a good idea to make out where your brother could overhear?"

"Well… I didn't really consider it because I don't really care," Damon admitted quickly. "You're the one who cares about that."

"What about the fact that we're supposed to be broken up?"

"I've been thinking about that. I say we stop hiding," he sighed, rolling away from her. Damon was tired of Stefan being an asshole because he thought there was something going on between himself and Elena. And he was definitely wanted Elena to start giving him some space before his girlfriend started getting jealous.

"No," Addie said firmly, "As long as Klaus is a threat he will be willing to exploit any relationship between us to control either one of us. He knows I'm your weakness. He knows you're one of mine."

Damon scowled, "And if he already knows that, what's the point in trying to make him think otherwise?"

"I don't want him knowing just how much of a weakness you are for me. The less of a weakness you are the less danger you are in."

"Fine. Whatever," he grumbled.

"Hey," she said gently, cupping his cheek and turning his head to face her. "Don't be like that, ok?"

He gave her a halfhearted grin as he pulled her hand away and gently squeezed it. Sitting up he said, "I'll see you downstairs, alright?"

"You're leaving annoyed," Addie stated, propping herself up on her elbows and forearms.

He shook his head slowly as his eyebrows furrowed in thought. "Not annoyed, per se. I'm just tired of drama."

"You do realize you are one of the most melodramatic people I have ever met?" she quipped back, a smile toying at her lips.

"It's entertaining when I cause it. Klaus' drama is like a really crappy three hour foreign film with subtitles, bad acting, and awful cinematography."

"I'll take no drama from both of you, thanks."

Grinning slyly Damon caught her chin between his thumb and forefinger and slowly lowered his head towards hers. The tips of their noses brushed as he promised, "I'm going to get rid of the Klaus drama, Ads." She looked so incredibly soft and sleepy, her defenses down. He tilted her chin up and lightly brushed his lips against hers. Pulling away slowly he teased, "You know part of why you love me is because of our drama, though."

"You know, you're a glib, arrogant dick," she retorted, pulling away from his touch.

He snickered, "I love you too." The bed shifted again as he got up to leave. As he opened the window he looked over his shoulder and hoped, "Just follow my act, alright? They don't need to know everything."

"My boyfriend, always working an angle," Addie sighed dramatically but nodded in agreement.

He gave her a grin before suddenly disappearing, the window closed behind him. A second later the doorbell rang. Deciding she didn't want to leave her sister with Damon for too long, even if Stefan was there to supervise, Addie quickly washed her face, brushed her teeth and threw on a clean pair of jeans paired with a white and green baseball tee and match Converse. The sound of voices and the smell of burnt toast led her to the kitchen where Stefan leaned next to the stove as Elena put a frying pan in the cupboard next to him while Damon sat perched on the island, tossing and catching an apple.

"Oh, good. You're up. I was about to come get you," Elena noted when she saw her little sister.

Feigning ignorance, in a dark and ominous tone Addie asked, "Why would you dare wake me from slumber and summon me?"

Elena rolled her eyes, ignoring the oddity that was her sister. "Bonnie opened the coffin. Long story short, it was their mother Esther who was sealed in it."

Stefan's eyebrows arched in surprise. "As in the Original Witch?"

"What?" Damon gawked in disbelief, as if Elijah hadn't already warned them that she was what was possibly in the box. "How is she even alive? Thought her hybrid freak show of a son ripped her heart out a thousand years ago."

Elena shrugged and carried on, informing them, "I don't know. I'm guessing she has a couple connections in the witching community. Elijah said that she wants to live in peace with her family."

"You know, dead things should just stay dead," Addie thought, leaning against the island.

Damon very gently threw the apple he was playing with at her head and quickly caught it as it bounced off.

"What the hell?" she snapped at him, rubbing at where the apple had struck. It didn't hurt but it was a shock.

"I was dead!" he exclaimed. "Sort of."

Addie snorted bitterly, "Perfect example of my point. Think of all the people that would have survived."

"I did the world the a favor by not allowing idiots to reproduce and populate the earth with even more idiots. Our planet is smarter because I'm a living dead," reasoned Damon.

"How are you not crushed by the weight of your ego?" she growled, her tone laced with annoyance.

He went back to tossing and catching the apple as he casually replied, "Super strength."

"Can't you two just get along?" Elena grumbled. "You're missing the point. Esther wants to live in peace with Klaus."

Of course. Addie couldn't resist rolling her eyes. She didn't get why everyone was so hell bent on killing Klaus. If it was a plausible, logical idea someone would have already killed him. He was just a bully; bullies could be handled without murder.

Stefan's jaw dropped as he shook his head in dismay. "She was supposed to be the weapon to help us kill Klaus."

"Well not anymore," Elena quipped before softening, "at least not according to Elijah."

"That coffin was the only thing stopping Klaus from tearing us to shreds," grimaced Stefan.

Slowly Addie backed away from the clique and tried to put as much of herself behind Damon as possible without being obvious. It was her fault they didn't have the coffins of Klaus and Elijah's brothers to hold over the hybrid.

Damon, who had stopped playing with the apple, scowled, "Anyone else feeling a little used right now?"

Instinctively Addie rubbed his back in a comforting manner. She hadn't even realized what she had done until she caught Damon's quizzical expression. Her hand moved away from him as swift as if he had burned her. Touching him was not being discreet. Luckily the quick exchange wasn't caught by Elena or Stefan.

"Look, Elijah promised me that his family wouldn't hurt any of us," placated Elena.

"And we're gonna trust the guy who already betrayed us once?" Addie snorted.

Defensively her sister bit back, "I believe him. Besides, we don't exactly have a choice. At least for now. We have no idea how to kill Klaus and with the Original Witch on his side…"

"We're fucked," Damon finished acrimoniously, his light, carefree manner vanished.

Bile rose in the back of Addie's throat at the sympathetic, doe-eyed look Elena gave him. It was a small comfort to know that Damon didn't enjoy or want people's sympathy. Addie shifted uncomfortably in the suddenly tense, ominous mood. A wave of relief washed over her when the doorbell rang. However, Elena was already halfway to the door by the time she had turned to answer it. Still, ever so nosy, Damon and Stefan moved to the bottom of the stairs. Feeling obligated, Addie followed.

It was easy to see that nobody was there when the door opened but Elena bent down and picked something off the ground. She passed her little sister an envelope made of a thick, expensive parchment with _Addison May Gilbert_ elegantly written on it. Elena held a similar envelope with her own name.

"What is it?" Damon asked curiously, peering over Addie's shoulder.

She shrugged in response but Elena broke the wax, red seal on the back and opened the envelope to reveal a sturdy, cardstock piece of paper. As she held it up to closer examine what it said, Addie saw a message scribbled on the back.

"It's an invitation. 'Please join the Mikaelson family this evening at seven o'clock for dancing, cocktails, and celebration,'" she read, the disbelief growing in her voice.

"Who the hell are the Mikaelsons?" Stefan demanded.

"The Original family," Addie explained as she allowed Damon to snatch away her own invitation to open it.

He scoffed as he looked it over, "It's bad enough they're moving into town. Now they want a housewarming gift?"

As much as she squinted, Addie couldn't read what was on the back so she told ELena, "Flip it over."

"A note?" she murmured, perplex. "'Elena, I think it's time that we finally meet. Esther.'"

"Sipping a cosmopolitan with the woman who tried to kill you? Sounds like a blast. You let me know how that turns out," Addie remarked dryly. It was unclear from her sister's expression if Elena had comprehended the slight bit of humor she'd infused.

Inconspicuously Damon slipped Addie's invitation back to her with the card turned over. Just like Elena she had a note. Although hers was unsigned, still, Addie recognized the cramped, slanted cursive. _Addison, save a dance for me._

"You're not going," Damon stated unquestionably as the group moved back towards the living room. While his attention had been focused on Elena, Addie knew without a doubt his words were really meant for her.

"I don't know why anyone would even want to," she reassured him as the words _ballroom attire_ jumped out at her. "A _ball_? As if the Founding Family soirees weren't hoity toity. Poofy dresses, makeup, heels and dancing?" She paused for dramatic effect before, as if in sudden realization, saying, "My God, it sounds like my worst nightmare personified. I'm sure you'll love it, Elena."

"You're not going. She's not going. No one is going to go deliver their on a silver platter to _the Mikaelsons_ ," Damon spat angrily.

Meekly Elena said, "If Esther wants to talk to me, maybe I should find out way."

It took all of Addie's self restraint not to laugh. If Elena planned on doing something Damon didn't her to do her argument needed to be a hell of a lot better.

"Well that's a dumb idea," he scoffed. "Like your sister said, she already tried to kill you once."

"No, Elena is right," Stefan interjected thoughtfully. "Bonnie was led to open that coffin for a reason. I think there is more to this than just some family reunion."

Damon's bright eyes turned dark as he glared at his brother. "Can we go back in time where the old Stefan cared if Elena lived or died?"

Stefan shrugged dismissively, "What for? It's your job now."

"Hey! Making sure _I_ don't get killed is a full-time job that I already have him putting in overtime for. I might not be the doppelganger but you'd be surprise how often I tango with death. Between my homicidal history teacher, antagonizing psychotic serial killers, and the mere fact that I am related to Elena, it really is amazing that I am still alive at this point," Addie cut in, overly bright and bubbly when she saw the anger flicker in Damon's eyes. A small flame of pride lit in her when she saw the corners of his lip twitch once.

"Stefan has a point, Damon." Elena said, taking advantage of the moment of silence. "I should find out what she wants."

Addie rolled her deep blue eyes. That was hardly a convincing argument in Damon's book. If anything, it only made his resolve that Elena shouldn't go even stronger. Whatever Stefan said was a bad idea in Damon's book.

"You can't protect yourself," he objected.

"Ok, fine, then I'll go," solved Stefan.

"Nu-uh. You've pissed off enough Originals to last a lifetime. I'll go," decided Damon, snatching Elena's invitation from her.

"Hey!"

Harshly he snapped, "End of story."

* * *

Addie stared up at Damon's ceiling, once again reflecting on how it would be so easy to attach little glow-in-the-dark stars to it. She wondered if she'd ever be able to convince him to do that. He had previously objected because it apparently wasn't very impressive to girls but if he was only trying to impress _her_ now, it was. Turning her head to Damon's nightstand she saw the photo he had framed, their kiss atop the Ferris wheel on their first real date, and smiled slightly. Had that really only been almost seven months ago? It felt like so much longer.

Besides the fact that everyone went nuts when it came to Klaus and that he was a horrible person, there was really only one reason she cared if they killed him: Damon's bed. As long as Klaus could get into the boardinghouse, Damon wasn't comfortable with Addie staying there. That meant she missed out on the wonder that was his ultra king sized feather bed which she imagined felt much like a cloud, if clouds were composed of a solid substance as opposed to water. She couldn't help but notice that the silky black bedding didn't smell like Damon anymore, just his laundry detergent. Although, there was a pillow on her bed that had a ginger, cloves, and sandalwood aroma.

A small curiosity settling in her, Addie went to Damon's closet as the sound of the shower drifted out of the bathroom; she wanted to see what he had picked out. The little message from Klaus on her invitation had left Damon really unsettled, though he wouldn't say it. They had planned on running their own marathon but he had done a complete 180 and insisted that he wanted to stay in, so they spent the day curled up in her bed watching his pick of old, black and white Cary Grant movies. The movies weren't bad but Damon's lips had been far more interesting. She could tell that he was bothered just through his kiss, though; the eagerness mixed with a sense of desperation, the way he held her tighter and closer than usual, it all conveyed his distress. When Damon asked if she would join him at the boardinghouse while he got ready for the ball, she hadn't put up a fight. Addie knew he had to be quite bothered by those few words if he felt she was safer with him, where Klaus _could_ get in, than at home. His best thinking could be impaired by his anxiety and ego.

On the back of his closet door hung one of his classic black tuxedos with a white shirt and an undone, black bowtie. Sure, it was probably worth more than her car and it was nice but… it didn't look different from any other tux. Addie wander to the back of his enormous closet to where all his suits hung and began to pursue them. She liked the vest with light grey and a pattern of dark grey diamonds from one suit. Off of his tie rack she picked out an even lighter, solid grey tie.

Damon stuck his head out of the shower as he reached for his towel and glanced at the bed. "Ads?" he called out. He had told her not to move and she'd said she wouldn't. His heart began to race when she didn't respond. As Damon wrapped a towel around his waist and stepped out of the shower he said louder, "Addie." As he strained for hearing, he thought he heard some rustling but he wasn't sure. Perhaps she had just gone downstairs. Quickly, he moved into his room and yelled, "Addison!"

"What?!" she demanded, suddenly emerging from the closet.

In a heartbeat he had her in a crushing hug. "Damn it, Ads," he muttered into her hair, holding her head against him. "I told you not to move."

"I went into the closet," she emphasized slowly, pushing his dripping body away. He was wetting her clothes and she didn't like that.

Damon sighed, shaking his head as he reluctantly pulled away, "I thought…."

Addie shifted guiltily; she hadn't wanted to scare him. She moved the vest and tie into the same hand so she could take one of his and gently squeeze it. "I know. I'm sorry."

"You're fine; that's all that really matters," he dismissed, not wanting to dwell on the horrible scenarios that had run through his mind. Looking for a distraction, he noticed her holding something. "What's that?" asked Damon.

"Your tux sucks. The bowtie makes you look like a dork. You need some color," she declared, holding up the gray garments.

Instead of responding immediately he stroked his chin in thought. Eventually he said, "That doesn't match."

Holding the tie against the vest it looked like it matched to Addie; they were both light grey. "Fine," she shrugged "look like a dorky penguin. I'm not being seen with you."

"That," he pointed to what she held, " matches but they don't match the cut of the tux." Damon took the vest by the hanger and held it up against the black suit that hung on the back of his open closet door. "Look. The suit is double breasted with a tight shawl collar. It almost entirely covers the vest," he explained, showing her what he meant by closing the jacket over the vest. "Come on," he said, heading into the closet.

Addie smacked her forehead with her hand and dragged it down her face slowly. She hadn't wanted a lesson in fashion. She should have just let him look like an idiot in his typical tuxedo. Reluctantly she joined him at the back of the closet as he browsed through various suits. He had to have twenty different black suits and she couldn't tell the difference. Nor did she really care.

"How wide's the tie?" murmured Damon as he pulled two suits off the rack.

"Skinny," she sighed.

He put one back and turned to Addie with a triumphant grin. " _This_ matches."

"If you say so." She rolled her eyes but his grin was infectious.

"It look like the one on the door to you, doesn't it?" he chuckled.

Addie nodded as she watched a bead of water roll down his firm abs and onto the towel that hung precariously low on his hips. "Get dressed," she muttered distractedly, shoving the tie into his hand and going back into his room.

Damon emerged a few minutes later, the tie, done in a simple knot, tucked under his vest. The jacket he held over his shoulder by one hooked finger and strutted towards Addie as if he were walking a runway. His eyebrows waggled suggestively as she giggled.

"I always wondered when you would eventually come out of the closet."

He smirked wickedly at her, his eyes alight with mischief as he stalked towards her. Her cheeks colored but he had to give her credit for not backing away. When Damon was close enough his free hand wrapped around her and pressed into the small of her back, making her slightly stumble into him. The jacket dropped to the floor as he used the crooked finger to tilt her chin up instead. It was an admirably restrained kissed considering his jovial mood, but it lingered, and he opened his lips over hers. Automatically Addie parted her own to adjust the fit. The mint of his toothpaste filled her mouth, his lips firm and warm. Pleasure rose in her, and for a moment she melted against him, her arms twining around his neck.

His strong hands rubbed up her back in a long, slow sweep. It was meant to be a simple kiss but the taste of her had gone to his head like a potent wine. He growled softly as she pulled his bottom lip between hers. Addie let him guide her until her back was pressed against the wall; it didn't matter as long as she had control of this kiss. Of course he was never very good at relinquishing power for very long. Under her shirt he skimmed his fingers up her sides, over her ribs and back down, the ticklish feeling distracting her as they fought for dominance. Her hands slipped into his hair and Addie broke away from the kiss, giggling.

"I hardly see what's funny," Damon murmured. He nipped softly at the skin she had exposed just below her ear.

"Your hair's still wet."

"Good, means I won't have a problem styling it," he said, pressing soft kiss along her neck. He shook his head, making his hair brush against her jaw and cheek.

"Hey!" she chastised, softly tugging at the strands.

He snickered, "I'd let you do it but I actually want to look good."

"That kiss was some seriously impressive acting," Addie quipped.

Damon laughed lowly and pressed his hips forward slightly, making her gasp softly. "I don't think there's any question of my sexually." He swiftly kissed her on the lips and moved into the bathroom. From there he called, "I'll drop you off at home on my way out, ok?"

Addie shook her head in exasperation. "We took my car here; that would mean leaving it here. I'd rather not do that."

"And I'd rather escort you home."

"Oh, my dark knight ever to the rescue," she said wearily. His protectiveness could border on suffocating. "It's less than a five minute drive. I'll be fine."

"You don't know that. You can't predict the future," he argued.

"It is 99.99% likely I will be fine."

"And I'd rather it be a 100% certainty that you will be."

She scoffed as she flopped onto his bed. His ego could be so annoying. "You do realize if Klaus tries something he will just simply kill you to get to me?"

"I stall him long enough for you to get away. We've been over this," Damon grumbled testily.

Addie grabbed one of his pillows and crushed it against her face. He was insufferable. "Klaus _doesn't_ want me dead. You are alive because he's permitted it. Damon, I don't want him killing you."

The sound of the blow dryer was the only response she got. The keys on the dresser were quite tempting. Though, Damon would probably have a heart attack if he came out of the bathroom and saw she wasn't there again. A few minutes later the pillow was pulled from her face.

"How do I look?" Damon asked, grinning at her.

She could see how the tuxedo jacket he had picked out was different. It only had a single button and it covered a lot less of the vest. He looked smart, handsome.

"Passable," she shrugged. His ego didn't need any stroking.

"I know," he smirked, grabbing one of her hands and pulling her off the bed. A pained looked over took him as he said, "I'll follow you home, ok?"

"Alright," she conceded.

* * *

Addie was less than surprised to find her sister primping in front of the bathroom sporting a big, poofy ball gown. Of course Elena would just happen to have a ball gown in her closet.

"Damon's going to stop you, ya' know," Addie remarked as she leaned on the door frame.

"He wouldn't be Damon if he didn't," Elena remarked as she carefully applied mascara. "It's interesting how… _passionate_ he gets. That's why I'll have Stefan with me."

It was most certainly _not_ interesting how passionate Damon became when it came to Elena's safety. If she didn't want him risking his life for her own safety, Addie definitely didn't want him running into danger because Elena wanted to be stupid. She was half tempted to exactly what her sister and Stefan planned on doing but she was already going to be worrying about Damon.

"Yeah, Damon's a really interesting fella," she grumbled. "Well," she inhaled deeply as she pushed herself off the wall, "you have a grand time at the ball, Cinderella. Damon turns back into a dick and Stefan back into...whatever emotionally screwed up thing he is at the stroke of midnight."

"You really aren't going?"

Addie's lips pursed and face scrunched up as she pretended to think very hard, "No, no, I don't think so. Binge watching _CSI_ on Netflix sounds a lot more enjoyable."

A night of problems solved with science instead of insane, supernatural messes was much more her cup of tea. The second episode was halfway done when the doorbell rang. Huffing in annoyance, Addie set aside her laptop and went downstairs to answer the door. For the second time that day there was no one there but something was left behind, this time a large white box with a big red ribbon. It was heavier than she expected; then again she had no idea what it was. She had just set it on the coffee table when her phone began to ring.

With a quick look at the caller ID she rolled her eyes and picked up, "Is it a bomb?"

"No. If I wanted to see you in a million pieces, I'd rip you into them myself," a voice chuckled.

"What is it?"

"If I told you, that would defeat the point of wrapping it."

Flatly she replied, "A bow does not constitute wrapping."

Addie could he the smile in Klaus' voice as he countered, "The bow _wraps_ around the box, doesn't it?"

"Smart ass."

"From one to another," Klaus replied cheekily. "Open it."

She tugged off the ribbon and lifted the lid. "Ummm," Addie stalled as used her shoulder to keep her cellphone pressed to her ear. Handling like a used tissue she picked up a long, strapless champagne dress with a gold sequined bust and a sweetheart neckline. The floor length bottom wasn't exactly poofy but the base layer of satin was cover by sever more of chiffon. It was all the weight of the sequins and skirt that had made a simple, elegant gown so heavy. Into the phone she uttered in disbelief, "What the hell is this?"

"I noticed you're missing my party. Again. I thought Damon might have drugged you again to keep you out of his latest scheme. If history were to repeat itself and you came to foil it again, the dress code is a bit more formal than homecoming. While your sister might keep an emergency ball gown in her closet, I know you don't. So, if you were to be a party crasher, I wanted you to be dressed appropriately," he explained matter-of-factly.

Defensively she sneered, "Damon didn't drug me."

"Then I suppose I won't kill him for that. No doubt I could come up with a thousand other valid reasons based on tonight's transgressions," Klaus remarked casually. There was nothing subtle about his threat.

"Leave him alone, Klaus."

He took a loud breath and exhaled dramatically, "This party is just so boring though. I could do with a rousing murder to liven it up."

"He's not there to mess with you. Just leave him alone," she hissed.

"Oh, I know. Damon's sole focus is your sister. It's like watching a game of tug-of-war between him and Stefan," he said, baiting her. "I think your sister enjoys having both of their attention just as much as Katherine did."

"Well, my sister always was an attention whore," Addie muttered as she placed the dress back into the box. She wasn't going to let Klaus get under her skin. However, she wasn't in the mood to play his games. "What do you want, Klaus?"

"You. At my party."

"Why?"

His response was hesitant and puzzled sounding, "Because I do?"

She couldn't help but scoff. It amazed her how self-centered and childish centuries old vampires could be. He sounded exactly like Damon when Addie asked why they always had to do things his way. "Well, you can't always get what you want."

"Yes I can. As long as you still care about people, which you always will because that's just who you are, I will always get what I want."

"Is that a threat?" she challenged.

Klaus laughed, "No, Addison, it's a fact. My party is quite boring. I think your presence will make things much more exciting. So, put on the dress and come. Or do you want a say in who I kill tonight?"

"I would but I don't have any shoes to match such a dress. Sorry," she quipped back unapologetically.

"Nice try. Rebekah informed me that she forced you to buy some strappy gold Saint Laurent stilettos in London that will match it perfectly."

Addie winced at the memory of the $800 shoes she eventually bought just to shut Rebekah up. As Addie had argued then, she had absolutely nothing to wear them with. "Those are trophy shoes. You know, for display purposes only."

"Council member, loved one, or should I just play eenie-meanie-minie-mo?" he contemplated.

"Didn't your mother say she wanted to live in peace?"

"You have thirty minutes before I choose someone."

"That's not even enough time to get ready!" Addie protested.

"Nonsense. That's plenty enough time to change clothes and drive over. I'm not asking you to play dress up, Addison, just to put one on. Clock starts now."

* * *

The Mikaelson's manor made every house in town seem minuscule, even the Lockwood mansion. There were rows and rows of car but no one seemed to be lingering outside. It was a chilly night, though. Addie's hand reached for the door handle but she gasped in shock when her hand closed around air.

"Twenty-eight minutes. I don't know if I'm more excited that or if I was more excited at the prospect of killing the mayor," Klaus reflected as he held open a door, offering a hand to help her out of the lifted Jeep.

Addie bunched the excess of the pale gold gown in one hand and took the one offered with the other. It was a lot more difficult getting in and out of the Jeep in five inch heels compared to sneakers. As she carefully watched her footing she wondered, "Why the mayor?"

He shrugged, "I don't know. I figured if I wasn't going to kill someone you loved then I might as well make a statement."

"You don't always have to resort to murder, you know," she observed as she straightened out the length of the dress and pulled up the top. Strapless and plunging necklines weren't exactly something she felt comfortable in.

"How else am I supposed to get you to do what I want?" he asked, genuinely perplexed at the idea. Before shutting the door he grabbed Addie's cell and keys off the seat and slipped them into his pocket.

"Well, most people try please and thank you."

"You're not most people, though," Klaus countered.

She laughed as she took the arm he offered, "No, I don't imagine you send extravagant gowns in the middle of your party to most people."

"I anticipated you not coming."

"No," Addie drew out slowly, carefully watching her steps. "These shindigs are much more my sister's type of thing."

"She does seem to be enjoying herself," he told her.

Her eyes narrowed slightly. His tone was so _implicative_ of Elena doing something wrong. However, it was so obvious that he wanted Addie to ask what that she refused to give him that pleasure. Whatever he knew or thought he knew or would say without any basis of knowledge would probably just be meant to stir up trouble. Instead she chose to turn the situation back around on him.

"And you?" she asked. "Are you enjoying the evening?"

"More so now that you're here," he admitted as he lead her towards the house.

Addie hummed thoughtfully at this. "Why did you want me here?"

"I knew you'd look gorgeous in the dress, which you do, in case you aren't aware."

"That's not a reason."

"I was bored?"

"Is that a question?"

Klaus brow furrowed as he held open the door for her, "I feel like this is a trap."

"You're the evil one. I'm the one probably walking into a trap," she mumbled, intimidated by the swell of people in the lavish manor. They were all so fancy. A guy might have a tux, or in Damon's case 20, lying around at last minute notice but did normal woman actually keep spare, perfectly tailored gowns worthy of the red carpet tucked away in their closet for a rainy day?

He gave her a small, rare, genuine smile. "No tricks. No traps. No games."

"And no dancing," Addie tacked on. It was a miracle she could walk in the heels. She wasn't going to tempt fate with dancing, not that she even wanted to.

"Fine but only because had planned on you being my partner for the traditional commencement waltz but you already missed that. Caroline proved herself to be an appropriate substitution," agreed Klaus.

She snorted humorlessly, content to let him lead her out of the crowded main room. "I don't think Damon would have approved of that."

"I don't see why not. He looked more than pleased to dance with Elena," Klaus remarked off-handedly. "Besides, don't you get a kick from doing whatever he disapproves of?"

"No. Well, sorta. Definitely not when it could possibly result in a bloodbath, though," she answered defensively.

Klaus laughed, "A bloodbath? Do you really think we couldn't sort out the simple arrangement of a dance like gentlemen?"

"That's cute," she teased, patting his arm condescendingly. "While you both have the capacity to show me what amazingly gentlemen you can be, neither one of you is capable of treating the other as such. Damon's very territorial, particularly when it comes to you. You don't know how to deal with not getting everything you want."

"Damon doesn't hold any right to be territorial over you anymore," Klaus reminded her as he showed her into the gallery. Flicking on the lights, he wondered why he was showing his studio to her. When he had shown Caroline it had been because he had been trying to impress her, trying to drive wedge between her and his first hybrid. The boy was too focused on the girl.

Addie, on the other, he had no reason to try and impress her. His _relationship_ with her was very difficult to handle. He didn't know why her opinion mattered; it just did. He did know she would judge him solely on his actions. It was why he always _threatened_ to harm people she cared about. If she ever actually forced him into carrying those threats she'd never forgive him plus keeping her around and getting her to cooperate for when he actually wanted to use her would be almost impossible. It could get rather frustrating that she didn't just respect him out of fear. He could never tell if she actually hated him, though.

Addie rolled her eyes and frankly stated, "You know, it's that kind of ass-backwards thinking that has you and Damon so screwed up. Or at least a part of it."

"Excuse me?" he gaped.

"You guys are so…," she looked around at the marvelous paintings as she searched for the right word, " _possessive._ You two are Neanderthals for even thinking he ever had any right to be territorial to begin with, dating or not. Girls, people, aren't fire hydrants for you to piss on and mark as yours!"

"Classy," Klaus smirked.

"Don't let the dress fool you," Addie retorted, pointing a warning finger at him. "What's the whole point of this impromptu gala?"

He sighed loudly as he took her hand in his. "Walk with me," he said, leading her further into his, particularly towards a geometrical abstract

"We've been walking. I want to know what this is all about."

Klaus studied the bright primary colors on the canvases as he debated on how much to reveal. "Would you believe me if I said I didn't know?"

She snorted, "The fact that you even need to ask that should give you your answer."

It was worth a shot.

"My mother has always leaned towards the dramatic side. Suppose she wanted to bring around the whole town to witness the family reunion," Klaus shrugged, taking her to the next painting. It was a very pretty painting, full of dark blues used to paint the starry night sky over the calm seashore.

Addie looked up into his face with concern. He had almost sounded nervous. Her stomach knotting, she realized, "You don't believe that."

His eyes met hers, wide with fear. Klaus squeezed her hand reassuringly but admitted, "No. My mother hates what I am. She bound me with the curse when my nature was discovered. She rigged the curse so that if I ever did manage to break it, I couldn't create more of my kind. Then, when I did break free she tried to stop me twice from making more hybrids once it was revealed the doppelganger was alive. from the other side, no less. I'm certain she's plotting something against me but I don't know what. The question is whether she means to kill me or simply prevent me from turning anyone else."

"You mean killing Elena," surmised Addie. He nodded. Softly she asked, "Should I be worried?"

"No," he grinned at her lazily as he interlaced their fingers, "you don't need to worry, Addison. I'll be fine."

She had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. "That's, um, that takes a load off my mind. But, uh, I was actually referring to _my sister_. Should I be worried about Elena?" Addie clarified, struggling to keep a straight face.

"Of course not. Between Stefan, Damon and myself, you wouldn't find a person better protected," he promised.

"Stefan says it's not his job to worry about Elena anymore," she said, running her hand through her hair.

"Stefan is an emotional mess. He doesn't mean the vast majority of what he says," Klaus replied callously.

Addie scoffed, backing away from Klaus as million thoughts collided. It was entirely his fault Stefan's emotions had been scrambled like an egg. How were the suppose to figure out what Stefan meant and he didn't mean? Was he actually going to protect Elena? Why was Klaus holding her hand? Why were they in an art gallery staring at paintings? Why was she just standing around talking to him? Where was Damon? What did Elena and Stefan have planned? The whole situation was just aggravating. And if _Klaus_ was concerned about the Original Witch, did that mean they should be thrilled or terrified?

It felt as if her heart had accelerated while the rest of her body and even time seemed to slow down. Her hands, suddenly clammy, traveled through her hair out of habit. Her throat constricted and her eyes burned as she tried to figure out how she had so quickly felt like she spiraling down a dark tunnel with no sense of control. Addie wanted to talk to Damon. Addie _needed_ to talk to Damon. He would make sense of everything and if he couldn't, then at least she'd feel safe in his embrace.

"Thank you for the invitation and the dress but I can't do this," Addie excused herself, swiftly walking towards the door.

She wasn't certain where she was going as her heels clacked loudly against the marbled floor. At first she headed towards the low rumble from the party but it was just so much, too much. A crowd of people was not what she wanted to deal with. Searching for some place quieter, she turned down a hall.

"Addison!" Klaus breathed quietly, suddenly falling in step with her.

Addie shook her head and continued down the hall, despite it's obvious dead end. There was an open door on the right hand side and inside she could see a shelf of books from floor to ceiling. That's where she would go; the quiet recluse of a study or a library was just the type of place she needed.

Klaus arm shot out in front of her as she came within a few feet of the open door. Quietly he hissed, "Addie, stop!"

It wasn't the physical barrier he posed that made her come to a halting stop but how he had actually called her by her name, her preferred name, for the very first time.

She looked at him curiously but he only held his finger to his lips.

"Did you get what you want?" Damon's voice carried through the open door, sour and acidic.

Perhaps she didn't want to talk to him if he was so cantankerous.

"Actually, yes," Elena answered smartly.

Right. Elena had planned something with Stefan so she could circumvent Damon and talk to Esther. Small wonder he was pissed.

"Good, tell me on the ride home. We're leaving. Come on," he ordered in his bossiest of tones.

Addie pushed Klaus' arm out of the way and moved to the doorway. Damon would be furious that she was at the party but he definitely would not leave without her and she wanted to leave. Inside Addie could see Damon held Elena by the upper arm.

"Uh, no. Damon, let go of me," Elena said firmly, jerking out of his grasp. "Look, I'm sorry that I had to cut you out of the plan."

He threw his hands up in exasperation and growled, "There shouldn't have been a plan. You shouldn't be here!"

"Do you think I _like_ going behind your back? I don't. But if I hadn't asked Stefan to help then you would've tried to be the hero and it would've ruined everything," stressed Elena.

Addie's lips pursed in thought. She didn't like seeing her sister fight with Damon, though she wasn't particularly fond of seeing them get along either. Elena had a point; Damon would have done anything to keep Elena from speaking with Esther. If the Original Witch spooked Klaus, they needed to gather as much information about her as possible, which meant Elena needed to meet with her. But to Damon's credit, Esther had already tried to kill Elena and they had no evidence that she wasn't going to do that in their meeting.

Despite the distance between them and only seeing his profile, Addie knew Damon was rolling his eyes just by his sardonic tone. "Sorry for trying to keep you alive. Clearly Stefan doesn't give a crap anymore."

Elena scoffed and shook her head. "Now you're mad at me for including Stefan?"

"No. I'm mad at you because I love you!" Damon snapped unthinkingly.

* * *

 **A/N: *Sigh* These characters...**

 **Thank you all so much for reading, following, adding this to your favorites, and commenting!**


	19. Chapter 18

Addie's world stopped. One beat. Two. Three. She could feel her heart slamming against her ribcage. She felt herself loudly tripping over her feet as she stumbled backwards. Klaus' hand was at the small of her back, helping her keep balance.

Worried that her noise might have drawn the attention of either Damon or Elena Addie quickly fled down the hall. She was aware of Klaus easily keeping pace with her. Wanting nothing more than to escape, she headed towards the sounds of the party. Everything passed by in a blur as Addie moved as fast as she could to her car.

"Addison!" Klaus cried as she tugged impatiently at the locked door handle. Either she ignored him or didn't hear him as she pulled more insistently. "Addison, stop!" he ordered in a firm voice. The grip he held on her wrist was just as firm but had a gentle element to it.

"Let go!" she exclaimed, trying to pull away from him.

He obliged, asking, "Do you even know where your keys are?"

"Give them to me," Addie demanded, angling herself slightly towards him. He hummed as if considering the idea. Her eyes narrowed dangerously at him. "I want to leave. I'm done with your game. Give me my keys, Klaus."

"You can go. I'll even give you your keys but I don't think you should be alone," he decided, walking around to the passenger side as he used the remote to unlock the Jeep.

Addie groaned and banged her head against the window. She just wanted to escape; she didn't want to play nice with Klaus. Scowling, she gathered up her dress, opened the door, and carefully used the running boards to climb up into the SUV. As she settled in Addie grumbled, "Two rules: don't talk and don't touch the radio."

He gave her a wide grin as he held out the keys. Without hesitation she snatched them and started the engine. Automatically she headed for the highway out of town, no particular destination in mind. She'd been driving for half an hour, focusing on nothing but the road, when the muffled ringing of her cell broke the silence.

The melody rang louder and crisper as Klaus pulled it from his jacket pocket. Glancing at the caller ID he told her, "It's Damon."

Her grip on the steering wheel tightened, her knuckles turning white. Addie didn't want to think about Damon. She definitely didn't want to talk to him. Through gritted teeth she hissed, "What did I say about talking?"

Addie was a little disappointed when Klaus simply quieted her phone and returned to looking out the window. A part of her wanted to pick a fight with him, to find a reason to yell and scream and channel all the conflicting emotions inside her somewhere. Instead she bit the inside of her lip as her eyes burned. She would _not_ cry in front of Klaus.

Fifteen minutes later her phone went off again. Klaus glowered at the device, "Do you want to answer it? It's Damon."

"Shut up!" she barked, surprising herself with how loud she was. Addie's hand trembled with anger as she held it out to him. Her fingers clenched around the device as he set it in her palm. She pressed the button to silence the phone but not to reject the call. Damon would just get pissy if he knew she was screening his calls. He had no right to take up an attitude with her.

She had to silence her phone once more five minutes later. As quickly as it began to ring again, Addie knew Damon was calling back as soon he had gotten her voicemail. Again she ignored the call and again the phone began to ring again. Scowling, she muted the device again. Damon had probably gotten back to her house and realized she wasn't there. That was a _good_ thing, a very, very good thing. If he was going to be such an idiotic, horrible, stupid, foolish, lying, hurtful _dick_ around her, he probably shouldn't have told her to keep a gun loaded with wooden bullets under her mattress. She hadn't wanted to shoot at him when he'd pushed her into it but the idea seemed particularly appealing at the moment.

"Are you ever going to answer that?" Klaus groaned as her phone went off again. "It's really annoying."

Her eyes drifted from the road just long enough for her to unlock her phone so she could power it off. Let Damon enjoy not knowing where the hell she was and her phone suddenly shutting off. Or he simply wouldn't care and was just calling to inform her that he was in love with her sister.

"Didn't I tell you to shut up?" she hissed. Her hands tightened around the steering wheel so much that her nails dug into her palms.

As they passed through Charlottesville, Addie figured she'd better come up with some idea of what she was doing. It was already ten o'clock. Wherever she went, however far she went, she would inevitably have to make the return trip. It also seemed unlikely that Klaus would stay silent for the entire trip, which was a shame. She didn't want a car trip with Klaus. She didn't want to think. She didn't want to worry about return trips. She just wanted to drive. She just wanted to drive until the vice-like grip on her heart lessened and her lungs expanded so she could breathe properly.

Pointlessly continuing north on US-29 it was. When the signs for Interstate 66 east to Washington, D.C. appeared forty-five minutes later, inspiration struck. The drive was just over an hour away.

"The Capitol? You wanted to see the Capitol?" Klaus questioned in disbelief as they passed the White House.

"No, not quite," Addie mumbled, feeling a little less grumpy as her favorite building came into view. She pulled into the parking next to a white marble building. The stone matched the nearby Capitol, Library of Congress, and the Supreme Court but the architecture was much more simple. Addie knew the simple, rectangular building atop a set of stairs was quite deceptive. The interior designs invoked Tudor England with oak paneling, ornamental floor tile, and high plaster ceilings.

After a brief internal debate, Addie decided to take off her heels. While the idea of walking on the ground was very unappealing, the shoes were painful and an sprained ankle waiting to happen. She gathered up the cumbersome dress and climbed out of the Jeep, jumping slightly to land over the curb and in the grass.

"Why did you pick such a dress with so much poofy stuff?" she demanded, brushing her hair out of her face.

Klaus chuckled as he shut her door and took the keys she held out to him. "That's not poofy. You should have seen some of the other ones I considered. Though, you know all that material is called tulle. There are only a couple of layers of it."

"Frankly, I don't give a damn what it's called," she replied simply. The grass was soft and cool beneath her feet as she moved towards the building.

"Ok. I hate to break the obvious to you but I think the place is closed. Notice how all the windows are dark?" he remarked patronizingly.

Addie stopped abruptly and jabbed a finger into the center of Klaus' just, poking him with each word, "Be nice." She dropped her hand and continued walking. "Or else I'll revert to the 'no talking' rule."

"You wouldn't be talking to me if you didn't want to talk. I know that much about you, Addison."

"Shut up, Niklaus."

"Where are we?" he asked, ignoring her.

She knew what he meant but she wasn't exactly in the mood to answer obvious questions. Smartly she quipped, "You recognize the Capitol but you don't know where it is?"

"Ha ha. This particular building we are walking towards? What is it?" Klaus snarled.

Just then they passed a large marble slab with the words "Folger Shakespeare Library" embossed on it. Fondly Addie ran her hand along it as she tilted her head towards him in feigned curiosity and mockingly asked, "You mean you can't read this?"

"Ah, of course. I should have known. Every time the guy I love tells my sister he loves her I always retreat to the world's largest collection of Shakespeare," he retorted sarcastically.

"I don't love him," Addie stated vehemently. The words felt wrong in her mouth. It was just so much easier to _not_ love Damon. Well, it would be if she could stop loving him.

"Alright," Klaus placated. "Why'd you pick here?"

Talking to him was probably better than stewing in her own thoughts. Stepping from the grass to the cold, unyielding concrete, she frowned. Perhaps going barefoot was just as uncomfortable as the heels.

"Well," she sighed, climbing the steps towards the door on the east end, "I like Shakespeare. After my parents died Jenna brought my siblings and me up to D.C. as a kind of mini-vacation. I think it was mostly just to escape the whisper and stares from everyone in town. My...sister," the word was like poison on her tongue, "and I couldn't really even be in the same room at that point. While everyone else did all the touristy stuff, I spent my time either here or at the Natural Air and Space Museum."

"You're angry at your sister so you've retreated to another place where you are familiar with feeling angry at her," analyzed Klaus.

Addie shook her head. She didn't even want to think about her sister. "No. You're overthinking it. I just feel... safe here."

"And you were feeling unsafe before?"

That wasn't quite the word but it was close. When Damon had first told her that he loved her, she knew it didn't mean anything. It was just another four letter word people tossed around too freely. But then he started acting as if his world revolved around her. He put aside his desires to put her safety first. Actually, he was very concerned about her safety. Addie was pretty sure he hadn't wanted her to go to London but he had pushed her to do it because he knew it was what she desired. And he had been so hurt and angry when he thought Addie had picked Klaus over him. Still, he had let her curl up in bed with him her first night home with minimal fighting.

That had just been a small fight. They had lot of small fights with a lot of bickering and bitching and pushing each other's buttons for no reason other than the simple fact that they could. Maybe that was the problem. Maybe she had pushed him off one too many times. Damon rarely argued with _her._

Ignoring Kalus' question Addie walked past the door, onto the grass and right up to one of the long, rectangular windows that ran top to bottom. "See this?" she asked, pointing to the large sculpture of white Georgia marble at the base of the window.

"A bas relief, the details have less depth to them compared to when they are measure to scale of the real thing. The technique retains the natural contours of the figures and allows the work to be view from many angles without distortion of the figures themselves."

"I really don't give a damn about how it was made or what it's called. The interesting thing is what it's depicting," Addie sassed.

Klaus snorted and rolled his eyes, "It's three cloaked women talking to a man."

Her eyes narrowed at him in annoyance. She wasn't in the mood for ignorance. "How astute, Sherlock. It's not just random people, though. It's the three witches and Macbeth from _Macbeth._ " Quickly she moved down to the next window and point to its bas relief. "This old man is King Lear and cowering behind him is his fool. And this next one is my favorite. That's Tatiana, Queen of the Fairies," Addie said brightly as she pointed to a crowned woman with her back to a man as they were surrounded by foliage. "And that's Bottom. Puck, the imp sprite, turned his head into that of a donkey by orders of Oberon, King of the Sprites, and used magic to make Tatiana fall madly in love with him. _A Midsummer Night's Dream_ is probably one of my favorite works by Shakespeare. It's actually one of the few things I've read and actually liked that was supernaturally driven."

"I think you're avoiding your supernaturally driven problem," Klaus remarked, leaning against the building.

"I don't have a problem," Addie quipped back sharply, walking away from him. She frowned as she stepped off the grass and onto the concrete. Not enjoying the feel of the hard cement between her feet she quickly moved to one of the white, marble benches.

She looked so helpless as she put her elbows on her knees and rested her forehead in her cupped palms. After giving her a minute of space to gather her thoughts, Klaus moved to sit very close to her. He lightly shoved her shoulder with his as he taunted, "Denial is the first stage of grief."

"I'm not grieving," she grumbled tensely. Roughly she pushed back at his shoulder. It wasn't like she had lost Damon's love. No, he still loved her; she was certain of that.

"More denial," Klaus pointed out cheerily.

Addie gave him a nasty glare as she looked at him from the corner of her eyes, still keeping her head in her hands. "Why are you here? You haven't made me miserable in a while so you figured I was overdue for my serving of misery that comes with your company?"

"No," he lamented softly. He supposed it was his own fault she would assume the worst of him. Attempting to sound sincere and genuine he continued, "While misery loves company, I don't think it's my presence that's making you miserable. I just came along to support you as a friend."

"We're not friends," Addie quickly corrected. "And I'm not miserable."

"You might want to tell that to you face."

Her lips pursed as she tried to look neutral and impassive as opposed to the scowl she was giving him. Sharply she retorted, "I'm just annoyed that you're here."

"I don't think that's it. A minute ago you were quite excited to show me the sculptures. I think you're upset that the guy you love just admitted to loving your sister," countered Klaus as he rubbed at his chin thoughtfully.

"I already told you I don't love Damon," she mumbled, the words leaving a foul taste in her mouth.

Klaus rolled his eyes. He wasn't going to push it. Whatever she needed to tell herself to make it through this wasn't his business. "Fine," he conceded. "The guy you really, really, really, _really_ like loves your sister."

Damon loved Elena. Damon. Loved. Elena. Addie ran a hand through her hair as she groaned. Barely a whispered she confessed, "Yes. Yes, I'm upset that Damon loves Elena and she feels the same way."

"How do you know that?" Klaus demanded. He had suspected that tidbit of information but he hadn't expected Addie to know it and not have some epic confrontation with her sister.

"Elena told Stefan she feels the same way about him as she feels about Damon. Everyone knows Elena loves Stefan. Doesn't take a genius to use the transitive property and figure out she loves Damon, too. What we need a genius for is to figure out what the hell all of it means," Addie snorted bitterly.

"What do you mean?"

"Stefan loves Elena. Damon loves Elena. Everyone loves perfect Elena. Elena loves Stefan. Elena loves Damon. Do they just become polygamist now or do Stefan and Damon duel for her honor? What the hell happens next?" Addie questioned, tilting her head back, as if the stars held all the answers.

Delicately, Klaus took her hand, interlacing their fingers. "That's their problem. You only need to worry about what happens next for Addie."

"Well," she drawled out slowly, a humorous element slightly affecting her tone, "Addie doesn't want her sister to end up with Damon."

"Why not?"

"Because she's _Elena_ ," Addie said, looking at Klaus as if he had asked if the sky was blue. "Damon deserves better than someone who's just going to screw with his head. In the end, Elena will always pick Stefan," she ranted, annoyed that her sister even had the option of picking Damon.

"Anger," he smirked.

Curtly she asked, "What?"

"The second stage of grief."

"Oh, my God," she uttered, her hands clamping over her face in exasperation. "I'm not grieving over anything. To grieve you have to have lost something. I haven't lost anything."

"You've lost Damon."

"First of all, there you go again with your stupid notions of possession. Second - "

"This isn't like that," Klaus interrupted. "You had Damon's heart. I knew the moment I first saw you two together that boy's heart and soul belonged to you. It was obvious in the way he looked at you, touched you."

Addie didn't know anything about souls but she had thought she at least had Damon's heart. She crossed her arms and pouted defiantly, "Damon's heart and soul were never mine to lose."

"Right," he drawled out sardonically. "The thing is, you're hurting now because of what he said but if you were going to be upset over losing Damon, it should have been this summer when you broke up."

Feeling a headache start, she rubbed at her temples. He wasn't even making sense. She _had_ been upset when they'd broken up. And why the hell shouldn't she be upset about the man she was in love with yelling that he loved her sister?

"How about we go back to that no talking rule?" Addie suggested halfheartedly, knowing he would just dismiss her.

"That's why I didn't kill him, you know."

"What?" she demanded, her hand clutching his a little tighter.

"When he picked a fight with me in Chicago, you asked me not to kill him. The only reason I didn't kill him was because when he told me that you guys had broken up, I could see in his eyes that his heart wasn't yours anymore," explained Klaus.

She froze. Could that possibly be true? Had she started to lose Damon that long ago? As the pieces started to fall into place, Addie could feel herself growing red with fury. Snatching her hand away from him, she stuck an accusatory finger right in his face as she darkly hissed, "This is all your fault. It's your fault I was gone for the entire summer. It's your fault Stefan reverted to being a ripper and you took him away from Mystic Falls. You're the one who rigged the scholarship so I would be sent to London. If it wasn't for _you_ , Damon and Elena never would have been left alone together."

"No, no, no, no," he insisted, pushing her hand out of his face. "If you and Damon were meant to be, you would have gotten back together after you returned to two. Elena and Damon wouldn't have continued to grow close and he wouldn't have fallen in love with her."

But they had gotten back together! It had to have been all the _help_ Elena had needed in coping with Stefan that she and Damon had bonded over. Really, Addie couldn't figure out when they would have spent enough time together for Damon to have fallen in love with her. Unless he really had over the summer and he had just managed to keep his emotions suppressed since then. Did that mean he was just using her?

"Elena had Damon hooked from the very beginning. Maybe it's because she looks like Katherine or she just some kind of charm that I don't," she mumbled defeatedly.

Uncertain of how to respond to that, Klaus was quiet for a long time, reflecting in his own thoughts. Eventually his brows furrowed in confusion. "I understand how Elena ended up with bunny munching Stefan but I don't understand how you both ended up falling for the bad guy."

She gaped at him, completely baffled. "In your world Damon's the bad guy? What does that make you?"

"The better bad guy," he stated.

"Better as in 'good' or 'evil?'" she wondered.

"The more evil bad guy."

She nodded slightly. "Ok, at least we're on the same page about that. But it's been a long time since Damon's been the bad guy. It's not like we fell for the guy who planned on unleashing a tomb of vampires on the town. He's changed since then."

"In your world Damon's the good guy?" asked Klaus, mocking her incredulous tone.

Addie shook her head slowly, uncertainly. Damon had the days when he was loving and protective and days when he just took things too far and became overly zealous and too aggressive about protecting her, causing him to make mistakes. "I don't like to label him good or bad. Damon is just Damon."

"Alright but _why_ Damon? Why do you pick him, Addison?"

Addie sighed heavily as she tried to come up with an adequate answer. She'd always known how she felt about Damon but it had always almost been impossible to pinpoint exactly why.

"Because I know he cares about me."

"By that logic you should be picking half of Mystic Falls."

"Hardly," she muttered. "You must be confusing me with my sister. Besides, the way Damon cares is different. He doesn't care about me like a friend would. I can't really explain how it's different, it just is."

When it was clear she wasn't going to elaborate any further Klaus surmised, "So all one would have to do to win you heart would be to care about you as more than a friend."

"My heart is not some object to be won, like a stuffed animal at a crappy carnival game," Addie corrected him unconsciously. His notions of people and their feelings and emotions as objects of possession was starting to get really annoying. Just because he had complete control over his hybrids and could compel anyone not on vervain to his whims and desires didn't mean it was acceptable. "And no, there is so much more to it than just how much someone cares about me," she added as she began to realize more reasons of just why she was with Damon.

"Like what?"

Uncertain of how much she want to expose what she and Damon had to the enemy Addie hesitated, "Well, I feel safe with him."

"So, someone who really cares about you and is powerful," Klaus nodded thoughtfully.

"No, not powerful. Yes, I know Damon will protect me from all things supernatural but I also have to feel safe with him. I had to reach a point where I knew he wasn't going to hurt me," Addie tried to explain. She wanted to avoid using the word vulnerable around Klaus in case it gave him any funny ideas but that was exactly what she had to become around Damon in order to let him in. They both had to break down protective walls they had built around their hearts to make the relationship work. Only, it hadn't.

"Guess that was poor judgement on your call," quipped Klaus.

Addie tilted her head and lifted her eyebrows in confusion. "What?"

Klaus gave a slight shrug as he coolly replied, "What Damon said _did_ hurt you, unless you want to go back to all the denial part."

"If I'll admit that, will you stop bringing up what happened? I really don't want to discuss it," she said tensely, trying to remain polite as Damon's words echoed in her head.

Overly bright he remarked, "Bargaining, the third stage of grief. You're really moving -"

" _Stop_ saying I'm grieving," demanded Addie as she tried to push Klaus away from her as hard as possible. When she remembered how much stronger than her he was, she stopped and scowled at the ground.

"Did you just try and shove me? And cut me off while I speaking?" Klaus asked as he looked down at her incredulously.

"Are we playing a game where we ask stupid questions about very obvious things?" she snarled back.

He snorted, smiling slightly. "And you've implied that I'm stupid. You're the only person who doesn't seem to cower in fear of me. Well, Stefan doesn't but he doesn't count. You don't feel fear when your humanity is fried."

She bit her lip and ran a hand through her hair, uncertain of what kind of answer he was looking for. Was it a good thing or a bad thing?

"I think I like it," he decided, "but it can get really aggravating."

" _You_ can be really aggravating," Addie retorted, knowing she sounded like a five-year-old. After a few minutes of silent reflection she admitted, "After the things I've seen you do, after Chicago, I know how cold, callous and heartless you can be. That guy scares me. I'm not afraid for myself but I am afraid for the people I care about. He's killed Jenna, John, and he would have killed Jeremy if luck hadn't intervened. I don't see the point in fighting him like everyone else does, but when they move to fight, it also shows how scared they are.

"Then there's this side of you. The guy who saved Damon; you didn't have to hold up your end of the bargain in that. The guy who saved Caroline, instead of letting her be collateral damage. The guy who steals my car keys and tags along on my escape from town just to, I don't know, be there for me. I might be terrified of that guy because I have no idea what his intentions are or I might not be afraid of him at all. I have no idea which I should be," Addie trailed off, mumbling to herself in the end.

Klaus interlaced their fingers as he slowly took her hand again. Holding it with the back facing up, he brushed his free thumb along the veins in her hand. When she didn't pull away after a few moments, he softly confessed, "I think his intentions are good. I don't know. He's someone I've never met before."

Klaus with good intentions was a hard concept to grasp. He had always been the bad guy. Addie had no problem labeling him as opposed to Damon. Of course there had been a time when Damon had been the bad guy with less than noble intentions and he converted to good. Why couldn't Klaus? Maybe a reformation wasn't even possible, though. Addie thought Damon's intentions towards her had been good but if that was true, what he said didn't make sense.

"How could he do that to me?" she wondered, quiet and sad.

He didn't have an answer for that. So he pointed out the only thing he did know about. "Depression is the fourth stage of grief."

Addie rolled her eyes; she didn't want to waste energy fighting with him. "Fine, I'm grieving. I think I have a right to. Here I was thinking that Damon still loved me only to have him pull out the rug from under me and find out that he loves Elena."

Klaus shook his head in confusion. "I don't get it Why does it even matter if you and Damon are broken up?"

Because they weren't broken up! They had been in a damn relationship while Damon had been in love with her sister. God, she felt like such an idiot.

"I guess it doesn't but I mean, I still care about Damon. It's not like I want to see him in love with my sister and not because I'm jealous. Elena will always end up picking Stefan. Right now his humanity is screwed up but he has enough sense to be pissed at Damon for making Elena love him. It's inevitable that he sorts out his humanity and the minute that happens, Elena will be with him again," Addie mumbled, upset about her sister's mutual affection.

"If you still care about Damon, why aren't you with him?"

"Because he loves my sister."

"He still cares about you, though."

"Are you trying to confuse me?" she snapped, rubbing at her temple. That headache had gotten really bad. "I'm not going to be his second choice." That was her exact concern when she had first started to get involved with Damon. She should have known better. She should have listened to her instincts then. Really, it was her own fault that she was in this mess.

"But he wanted Elena before he wanted you before. You didn't mind being his second pick then," Klaus countered.

"I wasn't." Damon hadn't wanted Elena anymore, right? "At least it never felt like it." Maybe he had never moved on from Elena. Really, it wasn't much of a surprise that he had picked Elena over her, again. Hadn't he almost died for Elena? Her head throbbed painfully and she scowled, "Why am I even discussing this with you? It's none of your business. If I should be talking to anyone it should be Damon. You're just making things more complicated."

"My apologies. That wasn't my intention," said Klaus. He wasn't sure that what he said was true.

Sighing heavily, Addie pulled away from Klaus as she stood up. It would be close to five in the morning by the time they got back to town. Declaration of love for Elena aside, Addie was almost 100% certain that Damon would be up worrying about where she was and if she was safe. She held her hand out expectantly, palms up. "Keys, please."

Klaus pulled the keys from his jacket pocket and passed them over to her. "Ready to go back?"

She nodded and spoke softly. "I need to talk to Damon. And it's not nice to keep him wondering about where I am."

"I don't get how you're worried about being nice to him after what he's done to you," he said, placing his hand on the small of her back as he let her lead the way back to the Jeep.

"Well, it's not like I'm calling and checking in with him the second we get in the car," Addie said, giving him a sly, devious smirk.

* * *

Addie stared anxiously at the old, heavy wooden door her key jingling in one hand and the other running through her hair. It was perhaps best if she just went home and called Damon in the morning, later in the morning. Of course it wouldn't be the first time that his car was at his house while he was at her house. He could be sitting in her room, waiting for her to show up. She didn't think that likely. He had probably done that for the first couple of hours. After that, though, with no sign of where she may have been headed and her phone going straight to voicemail he normally would have turned to Bonnie to do a locating spell. However, he hadn't shown up in D.C., which meant he hadn't gone to Bonnie.

If he hadn't gone to Bonnie, he had turned to alcohol. Addie wasn't sure if it was a conscious thing or if Damon even realized that he been getting better about his drinking but it was still what he turned to when something was bothering him so much he couldn't think straight. And if it was something that had him so distressed that he viewed the situation as a life crisis, the morning new would be reporting about dead bodies. She didn't think her short disappearance drove him to the point of murder. Albeit, he was probably pretty trashed and that made her indecisive about confronting him. A wasted Damon was an overly emotional Damon, in ways both good and bad.

When the door opened, Addie took a wobbly step back in surprise. Had she knocked without realizing it? No, she doubted Damon would have looked as shocked as she felt if he had heard a knock. His hair was a mess, as if he'd been running his hands through it all night, and his cheeks were slightly colored but by no means did he look like the drunk she had been anticipating. Although, his shirt was off. Damon always looked better without a shirt. Perhaps his chest was distracting her from what she should be seeing. Why was his shirt off?

Better question: what the hell was _Rebekah_ doing standing next to him in her emerald green ball gown? Her makeup wasn't fresh or anywhere close to perfect; she hadn't attended the ball like that. How did she end up at the boarding house in - no. Addie shut that train of thought down. She couldn't see where it was headed but she knew it was about as pretty as Stefan eating someone's head off their body.

As Rebekah walked past Addie with a smile she whispered in the younger girl's ear, "I want your sister dead for stabbing me in the back. I haven't quite decided what I want to do about you."

Because fucking her boyfriend when she hadn't even had anything to do with Rebekah being daggered wasn't enough payback? Addie looked over her shoulder but the Original had already disappeared. She scoffed, "Was that a threat? Did she just threaten me?"

"Where the fuck were you, Addison?" Damon fumed, grabbing her by the wrist and yanking her inside of the house. "What the hell happened?"

"Hey, hey, hey!" she protested, stumbling in the stilettos. "Enough with the pulling or I'm going to break something!" Once she regained her balance she crossed her arms defensively and gave Damon a challenging look. This was one of the reasons she was glad he hadn't been waiting at her house; it was very likely that their conversation was going to get very loud and there were more people to eavesdrop at home. Plus she didn't want to argue about Elena knowing her sister could overhear everything they said. Undoubtedly Stefan was in the boarding house so she pushed her anger aside for a moment and offered, "Would you be more comfortable discussing this in your room?" Where the sound machine was. They'd probably have to turn on the shower, too, if they didn't want Stefan to overhear them actually fighting, though.

"No! I don't give a damn about where we _discuss_ ," he spat the word out like bile, "this."

"Ok, well, you're not the one wearing shoes that are so uncomfortable and such a safety hazard that they should be illegal," she said, noticing his bare feet. It was annoying how he still had a good five inches on her.

Damon chuckle was dark, bitter, and humorless, "Fine, Ads. Where do _you_ want to do this? You've been doing whatever the fuck you've wanted all night; why stop now?"

"And you've been doing whomever the fuck you've wanted all night," she shot back, heading for the library.

A hand curled a fist full of silky dark locks as Damon clutched and tugged at his hair in frustration. Why did she have an attitude with him? Sharply he demanded, "What are you even talking about?"

"Oh, come on! Give me a little credit," she steamed. "Please tell that there is some very simple explanation for all of this. That you've gone off vervain and she compelled you. That some spirit has possessed or some other supernatural nonsense. Hell, I'll even take that you've just simply gone batshit crazy."

"You think I slept with Rebekah?" he asked in disgust.

"And I suppose now you're going to deny it," Addie muttered to herself as she dropped into the couch.

He gawked at her for a moment before deciding, "No, I'm not going to deny it because I shouldn't have to deny it at this point. If there is any part of you that truly believes or even questions if I slept with her, we've got some serious issues."

"Yeah," Addie said gravely as she nodded, "our issues definitely stem from whether or not I think you slept with Rebekah."

Damon dragged a hand slowly down his face. How the hell was this happening? She was the one who ran off and he was the one getting yelled at. It made no sense. And now suddenly Addie was questioning if he was being faithful to her? What was that all about? They spent an entire summer apart and she didn't question that but this one night? He needed a drink.

"What's with the sarcasm?" he asked tensely as he poured a measure of bourbon from the crystal decanter into a glass.

Innocently she replied, "I'm not being sarcastic."

"I know you, Addie. I can tell when you're trying to manipulate or control a conversation with sarcasm." She glanced up at him briefly before returning to unfastening her heels. Damon drank from the glass to keep from swearing. Silence was just another tool she employed to get what she wanted. "Fine," he growled He wasn't going to play mind games with her when he was already pissed off. "You want to tell me what tonight was all about?"

Not really. Addie didn't like having Damon mad at her. She placed her shoes to the side and sat up slowly. She stared at Damon for a couple of moments before saying, "I don't know what you're talking about." Really, there were several things about that night that he could be referring to. She was like 99% sure she knew what he was referring to but, hey, she wasn't a mind reader.

Damon glared at her but she didn't flinch as he anticipated. She knew damn well what he was talking about. She wasn't playing smart if she thought making him explain just what he meant was going to help her cause at all. The barely restrained anger could be hear in his words as he glowered, "I left you _at home_. I call you from the party a couple hours later and you don't answer your phone. Ok. It's just one call. You probably were in the kitchen or something. I try again when I leave the party. No answer. I'm a little concerned but I'm sure you'll be fine when I get back to your place. Except you're not there. And you're not at my house. And your car is gone. And everyone one I ask hasn't seen you since before the ball. So where the hell are you?

"And then I remember our first date when I said I would never trust you with a car because you'd go out for a drive one night and just decide to never turn back and you agreed with that statement! So I know you have a car and you might have decided to run away and nobody knows where the hell you are or where you might be headed. Now my calls are a little more frantic; they're all going to voicemail. _But_ I know you don't like being distracted by phones while you drive so maybe that's just why you're not picking up. Maybe you'll get the message that it's urgent and pick up. But no! Suddenly your phone is off. It's going straight to voicemail. There is no way of reaching you. You know everything that's going on in town, you know how much danger everyone is in. You wouldn't just suddenly make yourself unreachable in case of an emergency. That means someone else has decided to turn off your phone. Someone else is with you. Who the hell else is with you? I've already spoken to all of your friends. That leaves it to be some unknown mystery person. Do you know the varying degrees of dangers unknown mystery people come in? And you want to know who's right at the top of the list of murderous, unconfirmed mystery people? Dr. Fell, who just so happened to _not_ be at the party but _does_ have access to your house, where you were last seen," Damon vented, his voice becoming louder and louder.

Addie pressed her lips into a thin line to keep the corners from twitching into a smile. She was grateful she managed to sound completely unphased and nonchalant as she told him, "You read way too much into my habits of answering my cellphone. That's a very active imagination you have going. Sometimes I don't answer my calls and choose to turn my phone off because I'm ignoring you and it's as simple as that."

She had been ignoring him on purpose? What? Why? That wasn't the point.

"Ads, you can't just up and leave without leaving a note or something and you definitely can't do that with _Klaus_!" he stressed loudly, trying to impress upon her how concern he'd been. She was obviously taking it as a joke so far. "Also, when the villain says come and meet me, you go and hide!"

"How do you know about that?" Addie demanded, eyeing him suspiciously. "I thought I was kidnapped by the murderous Dr. Fell."

"That's what I thought at first," he explained as he poured another drink. His brows furrowed and creases formed on his forehead as he pretended to think. "Then I started to put the pieces together. My first clue was the giant gift box and red ribbon Elena found on your coffee table. My second clue was when I put together that nobody had really seen Klaus at the ball after toast. My third clue was Rebekah. I wasn't fucking her. I was trying to find you," he said short and curtly.

"Yes, I see how that requires your shirt coming off," she noted sourly.

Damon stopped his pacing and braced his hand again the top of a chair, with the other he pinched the bridge of his nose. Weary he lamented, "Clearly there are much bigger issues between us than how my shirt came off. I'm not even going to explain myself and not because I shouldn't have to but because I feel like you're just not going to believe me because you _want_ to believe I had sex with her."

Addie rolled her eyes and haughtily replied, "Why would I want to believe that my boyfriend had sex with my friend? Do you hear the words you say? You're talking like a mental patient;and I know because I was one."

Maybe that was it. Maybe Klaus had drugged her and nudged her sanity switch a little off center. Or perhaps, in some twisted logic that only made sense to Addie she was completely rational in being pissed at him. Now, how that blew up to epic proportions over the matter of a few hours was another special little thing about Addie but no doubt Klaus helped in setting her off. He wasn't even going to comment on the mental health part. Ninety-nine out of 100 days she would laugh it off or make a joke at her own expense but he felt like he'd just be making the pit he stood in deeper.

"I don't know why you would want to believe it but I also don't know why you do half of what you do," Damon rebutted defensively. "For example, I cannot come up with a single reason why you would willingly run off with Klaus! So, while I'll glad you're back safe, you can obviously see why I'm pissed."

"He was more like a stow away." Addie reflected, unable to come up with a better word but not wanting to go into details of the situation with Damon. Smirking, she threw his own words back at him, "Besides, you're gonna be mad at me no matter what I say because you want to be mad at me."

Damon scoffed, "No shit, Addie. There is no excuse for you taking off with Klaus and not letting me know!"

Seeing a flaw in his logic, her nose and eyes turned red as fake tears threatened to spill down her cheeks. With just the right amount of defiance and vulnerability she countered, "What if he forced me to? What if he threatened to kill you?"

"You find a way to reach me! My life isn't worth you putting yours in danger!" he stressed, his voice full of annoyance.

"What if he threatened to kill Elena?"

"He needs her alive for his hybrids; it's a bluff."

"Jeremy?"

"We sent him away just so Klaus couldn't kill him! There is _no excuse_!" Damon yelled, his glass shattering in the fireplace as he did so.

That was an intense, new level of anger from him. Addie knew she shouldn't push him further but she couldn't help but wonder, "What if it was Stefan he threatened to kill?"

He inhaled and exhaled slowly as he sat next to her on the couch. How could she not get it. Both his hands cradled her face, gently lifting it until her shimmering eyes met his. Firmly he told her, "No excuse. It's not your job to protect Stefan. That's my job."

"So it's ok for you to protect my siblings but not the other way around? Is that because your misogynistic or you just think I'm helpless?"

That was a trap. She wasn't exactly helpless but Wonder Woman she was not. He'd play it safe. "Stefan's lived lifetimes. You guys haven't even lived one. It's a matter of what's fair."

"How was Rebekah a clue?" she challenged, throwing him a curveball. She could at least check and see if he had a ready answer for that. If he did, he probably wasn't lying. Whether or not she thought he had actually slept with Rebekah, she had yet to decide. If she'd been asked her twelve hours ago if he loved her sister she would have said no with 100% certainty. Addie was second guessing all her judgments about Damon.

"Well, she confirmed my suspicion of Klaus sending you a package, this dress, to be specific," he said, picking up a layer of the skirt. "Klaus was going to lure you to the ball. She didn't know why or what he was going to do with you once he got you there. When she last talked to Klaus he had told her you were on your way. However, she didn't see either one of you again. That left two possibilities; you changed your mind about going and Klaus was either killing you for doing so, or hunting you down to kill you or Klaus intercepted you at the ball and took you somewhere," Damon explained. Abruptly he got up and walked around to put the coffee table between them, growling, "I thought he forced you somewhere _at best_ and then to just open my door and see you standing on my porch like nothing happened! _And you were ignoring me?_ Were you trying to piss me off?"

She hadn't considered if she had been trying to get some kind of payback on Damon for what he had said. It was possible, she supposed. Addie recalled the sound of her heels on the marble tile as she skittered out of the doorway after Damon professed his love for Elena. Skeptically she asked, "So, you didn't see me at the party?"

"Addie, any notion of peace that the Mikaels want to have in this town would have become a bloodbath if I had seen you there, in that dress, with Klaus," he stated clearly.

She had told Klaus just as much. Still. "I'm not something you get to be possessive about, Damon, girlfriend or not."

He snorted, "Yeah, uh, I've gotten that message. That wouldn't be why I was fighting him."

"Then what would?"

Damon tapped at his lips with a long index finger as he thought. His words had to convey the intention without insulting or embarrassing her. That was easy when you could be subtle but Addie was painfully naive in these situations and bluntness wasn't always the most polite form.

Delicately he phrased, "While that is a very beautiful dress and you look exquisite in it, it's completely inappropriate coming from Klaus."

"But you giving me a $50000 Jeep when we weren't dating is completely acceptable. Makes total sense," she bit sarcastically.

Damon rubbed at the back of his neck awkwardly. "It's not the price. It's not even that it's specifically from Klaus. It's inappropriate coming from anyone because it makes you look _too_ good. Well, I could possibly get away with considering I'm your boyfriend."

Addie nodded, her expression very serious. "That's logical. You know, how dare Klaus pick out a dress that's flattering on me. Next time, if he doesn't get me a garbage bag, I'm gonna slap him."

He shook his head impatiently. "Let's try this in reverse. Why did Klaus _not_ send you a garbage bag to wear?"

"Because even though my closet isn't fancy, it is a step above a garbage bag."

"So you could have found a dress?"

She snorted at this idea, "Do you not know me at all? This is so much worse than I thought if you're confusing sisters."

Damon had no idea what Addie was going off about but if he followed her every random thought their argument would never progress. He just wanted to get to the part where they made up. That didn't mean he wasn't still royally pissed at her for running off with Klaus and not letting him know if she was ok.

"Oh, my God, Addison. It's a simple yes/no question that isn't that ridiculous. You _do_ actually own a few dresses!"

Addie held out her hands, palms up in a questioning manner. "Why are you wasting time asking questions you obviously already know the answer to?"

"I'm trying to make a point!" he snapped, harsher than he intended.

"You're doing an excellent job," she mocked, giving him two thumbs up. Then she bit one.

That was it; that was enough to make Damon give up all pretenses of delicacy. His girlfriend had just given him the Shakespeare equivalent of the middle finger. He was so aggravated that it was not one of Addie's cute, nerdy quirks; it was just annoying.

"The only reason a guy ever dresses a girl up in any manner of clothing or costume is just so he can remove it!" he snarled.

Her lips pursed and arms crossed as she considered how she wanted to react to Damon's little insight into the male psyche. She had three responses, one to the ludicrous idea of Klaus' intentions, one to his own intentions, and one to just how stupid his theory was; the problem was that he'd never let her rant off all three without cutting her off.

Choosing the reaction that left her the most curious, Addie asked, "Is that what you mean to do every time you pick out my clothes or hand me a pair of yours?"

"Uh, no," he scoffed. "I have the struggle of keeping you in clothes."

"Ouch," she muttered, her lips turning into a grimace.

Realizing his error Damon tried to quickly backtrack and rectify. The words rushed out. "I don't mean that how it sounded. It doesn't even have anything to do with you."

Shaking her head, Addie held up a hand to silence him. "This… _fight_ is already messy enough. I don't think we need to add in the reasons why you won't sleep with me." Under her breath she added, "Though, I'm sure you'd have no problem sleeping with Elena."

Again about her sister! Where the hell was it all coming from? It didn't matter; she was right about the fight already being messy. Adding Elena to it would simply make it unresolveable. Trying to do damage control to the failed attempt at damage control he confessed, "Sometimes I think about it." When she looked at him confused he elaborated, "Taking off the clothes I pick out for you. Then other times I simply enjoy looking at whatever feature the clothes I have selected enhance. There is a sexual aspect any time I pick clothes for you."

"Just because there is for you doesn't mean that it's there for Klaus," Addie grumbled. Her nails were suddenly very interesting but perhaps that was simply because she could stare down at them and Damon could see less of her flushed face. She just wanted to get back to arguing with him.

"Alright, I mean this as nicely as possible but you don't know shit about this, about guys," Damon declared bluntly. "If I've learned anything usual from undaggering Elijah it's that Klaus is first still your typical guy and supervillain second. He lusts just like any other guy. Unlike your typical guy, he has an obsessive and fixative nature. You thought I was bad about Katherine? Dude's been wanting her dead for five hundred years. There are really a lot of examples of his fixation but none of them matter because they aren't my girlfriend.

"The obsession I have a problem with his attention to you. When he was Alaric, he didn't treat you _right_. I love you, Ads, but you can be as frustrating as hell, especially when you don't like someone. By all logic and reason Klaus should have killed you a thousand times by now and yet he hasn't. I'm definitely happy about that, but it means something is not right," he stressed, running his fingers through his hair as he paced.

Addie clapped slowly three times. With zero enthusiasm and complete sarcasm she said, "Bravo! You figured out that he wants me alive for some problem or curse that he thinks I am the answer to in the future. I definitely didn't expect you to figure it out after I've already tried telling you that he wants me alive."

"No, no. This is more than that," he insisted. "I know how Klaus thinks. I've been Klaus. There were times back before we got along that in that moment I thought screw the consequences, it was worth killing you. Consider it a compliment that you know how to get that far under someone's skin."

"Gee, thanks."

"Klaus has those moments too, I know it. I couldn't kill you because in that moment I also knew I wanted Elena and it was impossible to have both. In his moments, Klaus wants to kill you but he also _wants_ you at the same time. That's why you're alive despite constantly provoking him. In the heat of the moment someone doesn't think long term effects, they think short term."

She looked at him with scrutiny, taking in every detail. He didn't appear to be joking or lying. Perplexed she questioned, "Is this some jealousy thing or something?"

"What?"

"You just sound so ridiculous. I have no idea where you would even get an idea as outrageous as Klaus wanting me."

"I'm not making this up!" he snapped defensively. "Addie, you wouldn't notice if a giant, purple elephant were hitting on you. I like that because I don't have to worry about competition but it does nothing for your self-confidence. You have none! Which is not only wrong, it's dangerous. You don't see how Klaus is coming on to you or weaseling his way into your life and you refuse to believe that he could notice you that way."

"Is this a therapy session or are we fighting?" she asked condescendingly.

"If this needs to turn into a fucking therapy session for you to see how dangerous Klaus is then, yes, this is a therapy session," he shot back testily.

Addie twirled a strand of hair around her finger and pointedly looked away from Damon. If she wanted therapy, she'd go to a therapist. She was hardly going to play pretend with him. "You know, you're doing a really bad job as a therapist. You're all tense and volatile. That feeds my anxious personality type. And you're being mean. I should fire you."

His jaw clenched. His remark hadn't been meant to be taken literally. But he was too annoyed to tell if she had taken him seriously or if she was just being a sarcastic smartass. Not entirely sure he wanted to go into a battle so unarmed he tried to steer the course back where it was cut and clear what they were arguing about. "Forget the dress. How did you wind up taking off into the night with Klaus without giving me any heads up?"

"Well, I was at the party. Then I needed to be really far away from it. Klaus had my keys because this dress doesn't have pockets. I could either fight with him for my keys, which I really wasn't in any state to do, or he could sit there silently while I drove. The silent companion idea obviously won," Addie summarize evasively, sinking into the couch cushions, wishing they would swallow her up. She didn't want to confront the real problem. Perhaps she could just be angry at Damon for what he said and they would never have to discuss it. It wasn't really important why, when, or how he had fallen in love with Elena.

"Where'd you go?" He'd get back to the why she left.

"Folger Shakespeare Library."

Damon opened his mouth and then closed it again. He didn't want to accuse her of lying but, "That tends to be closed in the middle of the night."

She rolled her eyes and huffed, "Obviously. I didn't go in, just kind of walked around, sat and thought."

"Klaus do that with you?" When she nodded he bitterly added, "I doubt he remained the silent companion through that."

"We talked a little. He just… He didn't tell me anything I didn't already know."

"Well did he try anything?"

Addie shook her head and shrugged. "I don't know what you want me to tell you, Damon. He tagged along. He didn't try anything. He wasn't mean. He wasn't mocking. I don't know why he insisted on joining me."

"So he was just being friendly?"

Addie exhaled loud and dramatic, "I'm not stupid, Damon. I'm sure he was up to something; he just wasn't overtly obvious about it. I was too concerned with other things to care about what he was plotting."

"He could have killed you!"

"Didn't we just establish that he doesn't want me dead?"

"That doesn't mean you go out and make friends with him, Ads!"

"You don't have any right to tell me who I can and can't be friends with. Besides, that's not even close to what happened," she objected, dropping her head to the arm of the sofa. After being up all night she was tired and not in the mood to fight with him.

"No, he was just a _nice guy!_ Oh, it's overtly obvious what he was up to, just not to you!" Damon spat, again tugging at the roots of his hair in aggravation.

Addie stared at him for several heartbeats; his chest visibly rose and fell from his heavy breathing and the cords of muscles in his arms and across his chest flexed and twitched with every tense movement. While he was really upset, she wondered just how much of his anger he was focusing on Klaus being with her. Something told her it was the part that they hadn't really fought about, her ignoring him and shutting him out, that had Damon more bothered. But he didn't want to argue about that anymore than she wanted to argue about Elena; it was emotionally draining and it _hurt_. The pain of Klaus being there Damon could push off onto Klaus but the pain of their own actions against against each other couldn't be redirected.

He sighed, sitting in the chair catty-corner to the couch, "I don't want you alone with him anymore."

"And I don't want you to speak to my sister anymore," she grumbled tiredly. "See how stupid that sounds? You can't control me anymore than I can try and control you."

Again she was bringing up Elena. Klaus must have done or said something to either make her mad at Elena or feel insecure. Damon couldn't wait for the bastard to be dead. Roughly he explained, "I'm not trying to control you. I'm trying to keep you safe."

"We just established that he doesn't want me dead!" Addie repeated in exasperation.

"He doesn't have to kill you to hurt you, Ads," replied Damon, dark and ominous.

"I doubt he's going to kidnap and torture me. He had this entire summer to do that if he wanted to."

"Yeah and just because he hasn't tried forcing himself on you yet doesn't mean he won't! I don't want you alone with him!" he snapped angrily. Why did she have to be so difficult?

"He's not -"

" _You don't know what he's thinking_. I am not being the overly-jealous boyfriend! Will you listen if it comes from Stefan, an another guy's opinion on what the hell is going on?" Damon tried to reason, rubbing tiredly at his face.

Addie buried her face between the arm and the sofa and groaned loudly This was ridiculous. She tiredly huffed, "Fine, whatever, Damon. I'll stay far, far, far away from Klaus."

"Good."

"I'm going home," she decided suddenly, starting to put her shoes back on.

"Huh? We're not done fighting," Damon pointed out in objection.

"I don't think we ever actually started," she muttered bitterly.

His brows furrowed together in confusion. "I distinctly remember screaming and yelling and broken glass. If we haven't been fighting, please tell me what the hell we've been doing."

"We've been bitching about things that surround what we really should be fighting about."

Addie logic. Addie nonsense. He should have figured. The muscles in his jaws twitched as he hissed, "What should I be arguing about with you?"

"The fact that I scared you tonight. If I had just answered your call…," she trailed off, shrugging.

"You would have still been with Klaus. It wouldn't have made a difference."

"You would have known that he hadn't forced me into any situation and that he hadn't killed me."

Damon's hand went to his hair again, not tugging this time but just running through it, the anxious habit he had picked up from Addie. He was upset with her for ignoring him. Even a fucking text message before she shut off her phone would have been preferable. There was absolutely no reason for her to have put him through a night from hell, especially if Klaus hadn't done anything. But… they had definitely been arguing because he was tired of it. He didn't want to yell at her anymore. He didn't want to keep being mad at her.

"What if I just let that go?" he suggested quietly.

"Let go of the fact that I pissed you off?" Addie said, raising her eyebrows at him. "You can't do that."

"Are you telling me what I can and cannot be upset about?" Damon asked impertinent, doing his best impression of her.

She rolled her eyes. "If you _let it go_ , you're not being fair to our relationship. You deserve to get to say how you feel and I deserve to get to defend myself."

"But if I'm letting it go, it means I'm not mad about it and I'm not holding it against you."

"Subconsciously you will."

"No," he said, shaking his head insistently, "I won't. I don't want to be mad at you, Ads." Standing up, he held his hand out to help her up. He smiled slightly at the familiar feeling of her small, warm hand in his. "I want to be done fighting. I just want to go to bed."

Addie was glad when Damon didn't question why she grabbed her keys before she let him lead her out of the library. When they reached the foyer, her hand slipped from his and she stopped following him, making him turn and look at her curiously.

"I just want to go to bed, too, but I'm going to do that at home. You might be able to let go of why you're mad at me, but I can't let go of why I felt the need to shut you out and push you away tonight."

"Wait a minute," he frowned in confusion. Then he disappeared. He could see Addie wanted to reprimand him for using his speed when she saw him leaning against the door so he quickly blurted out, "According to you this is all my fault?"

"I didn't say that," Addie answered wearily. "I could have chosen to answer my phone, I just didn't."

What was she trying to say? Didn't he just tell her he was going to let this go? Was she trying to start a fight? Certain he was going to regret doing so, Damon asked, "Why didn't you answer your phone?"

"I wasn't ready to talk to you after I overheard you tell Elena you loved her."

Shit. He'd never expected her to hear that. How the hell was he going to fix this?

* * *

 **A/N: Wow. Just wow. Your responses to the last chapter were just so... overwhelming. I was giddier than schoolgirl getting a love note. And then these two don't even wanna talk about what happened! Geesh. Damon screwed up so bad he got his own song. Cut Out -** **youtu. - be/Ab2wXQznvms**


	20. Chapter 19

"Will you scoot?" Addie sighed, waving her hand in a motion for Damon to move away from the door.

"I don't think that's a good idea," he said very slowly, staring over her shoulder and off into the distance.

"Damon, it's been a really long night... for both of us. I just want to go shower and get a couple of hours of sleep. Please move," she pleaded.

He shook his head. Something told him that if she left, Addie's anger was just going to fester and he'd have no chance of reasoning with her.

Addie crossed her arms and glared indignantly at him as she warned, "Damon…"

"Upstairs. You can shower and sleep here. We'll talk after you wake up," he resolved, pointing decisively towards the stairs.

"I'm not exactly in a mood to share your bed," she snapped coldly.

Damon had to fight from rolling his eyes. He wasn't exactly in a mood to deal with her attitude, no matter how justified it might be. "I figured. There's still a guest room set up for you. So," he flicked his wrist, shooing her towards the stairs.

Humming, Addie stroked her chin and tapped her lips thoughtfully. "Nope," she popped out defiantly, stressing the _puh_ sound. "Now you," she mimicked his wrist flick.

"I'm not letting you leave," he said simply.

"You have to!" exclaimed Addie, not caring that it sounded like she was whining.

"Eventually. I mean, you do need to go to school," conceded Damon, but his smug grin made it clear he wasn't making compromises. "However, that's not until tomorrow morning. You can choose how we pass the time. I can stand at this door like a royal guard and you can try and make me laugh. Or you could go shower and sleep. Either way, you're not leaving until we discuss what you think you heard."

" _What I_ think _I heard?_ " she screamed, surprising both herself and Damon with how shrill and loud she could get. "I _know_ what I heard! I may not have super vampire hearing but I know exactly what I heard!"

"It's-"

Addie didn't care about what Damon had to say. She didn't want to hear his excuses so she bulldozed over his words with her own. "It's not what it sounded like? It's not what I think? It just slipped out? It-"

Damon used his vampire speed to move behind Addie, her back pressed against his chest. The warmth from her bare, satin shoulders against his skin was momentarily distracting. It just took another earsplitting word from her to remind him to clamp his hand over her mouth. He'd seen Addie hurt. He'd seen her mad. He'd never seen her shriek. It was annoying. Other girls shrieked; his girlfriend did not shriek. But she would, apparently, twist her arms around to sharply dig her nails into his back and scraped them around to ribs.

Groaning softly, Damon nipped at her ear without having to stoop, a definite perk of her heels. Apparently he could get Addie to play really rough, unfortunately it required really pissing her off. She tried to pull away and speak but it just came out as muffled nonsense. He tsked disapprovingly in her ear, holding her closer to him. "Make up you mind, love. Are we playing," he kissed her neck, demonstrating his point, "or fighting?"

Addie's teeth sunk into the flesh of his palm, deep enough to draw blood.

"Fucking hell," Damon hissed. He knew the risk of what he was doing; when he used his hand as a means of silencing her he almost always got bit. She never actually hurt him, though. Clearly he had misjudged how upset she was. All the more reason he wasn't going to let her leave angry. But Addie was tired and when she was tired, she was cranky. His cranky girlfriend who had already broken the sound barrier was not someone to be reasoned with. "That was not nice!"

He felt her try to spit a mouthful of blood into his hand but it just kind of spluttered.

"Mature, Addison, very mature. Interesting twist of events, the human is going to have the vampire's blood on their face and not the other way around. Isn't that ironic?" Damon taunted, having grown a little aggravated himself. "Whether you like it or not, you're staying here until we discuss this. Stop that!" he snapped as she scratched at him again. "I'm also not having this discussion until you've slept, rested cooled off, or whatever the hell you need to do to stop being so ornery." She bit him again. He gave her a quick kiss to the side of her head and brightly said, "See? Improvement already! You didn't make me bleed that time. Now, if I uncover your mouth, are you going to start screaming again."

She kinda felt like doing some more yelling but she was also tired. Soon she'd reach the 24 hour mark for being awake. Damon was crafty; he would say whatever he needed to in order to get her to think whatever he wanted her to think about what he had said. Addie needed to be on her A game and for that she needed sleep. Slowly she nodded.

"Good," Damon said, removing his hand from over her mouth.

Addie wiped her mouth and chin, covered his blood, on the back of her hand as she formally informed him, "I'm commandeering your room and shower. Under penalty of screaming, you shall not enter."

"You can't just seize my room!" he sneered, following her up the stairs.

"Says the guy holding me hostage! And the guy who told his sister's girlfriend he loved her! The rules of what a reasonable person can do obviously no longer applies! You're being an idiot, therefore I'm doing whatever I want," Addie declared superiorly. As she finished, she slammed Damon's bedroom door in his face and clicked the lock into place.

From the other side Damon complained, "That doesn't even make sense!"

Addie ignored him. As far as she was concerned, he didn't deserve an explanation. Balancing herself against his dresser she unceremoniously kicked off the heels of death. That was probably not how she was supposed to treat $800 shoes but she wasn't an '$800 pair of shoes' kind of girl.

"Where am I supposed to sleep?" he questioned her through the door. He'd never been locked out his own room before. Addie was lucky she was his Ads; anyone else and he would have broken the door down and snapped their neck. He didn't want people going through his things or finding anything unsavory. There wasn't anything he wouldn't want Addie to find even if she were the type of person to snoop. It was a really good thing they weren't married, though; he'd probably always be locked out of his own room.

"There are six other bedrooms in this place. Go find one," Addie advise snarkily.

* * *

Despite the silky sheets, cozy blanket, fluffy pillows, luxurious mattress, and the tiredness so deep she could feel it in her bones Addie couldn't sleep in Damon's bed. It had never felt so uncomfortable. She had tossed and turned for hours but she couldn't get him out of her head. Even when she closed her eyes she could still smell him. The bedding didn't smell like him; he'd been spending all his nights with her. The soap in the shower she had to use definitely smelled like him. It was like a bit of him was clinging to her. Typically she would have dressed in his boxers and one of his shirts but she had put on her own clothes instead. She really didn't want to be reminded about Damon. Thinking about him meant thinking about what he had said and that led to pain.

Another sob wrecked through her entire body. She really wished she'd stop crying like a big, whiney, overly dramatic baby; it was so _Elena._ It was also probably a contributing factor as to why she couldn't sleep. She had to keep flipping and switching pillows each time she soaked it with tears, snot, and, thanks to a stuffy nose, drool. She tried to take a deep, shuddering breath.

Damon tucked one of Addie's hairpins from her old room into his pocket after successfully unlocking his door. He really had planned on giving Addie her space, he had, but she'd been crying ever since she got out of the shower. At first it was just little sniffles but it grew into full blown sobbing. He hadn't been eavesdropping or spying on her. His ears just naturally tuned into her whenever she was around.

Either Addie didn't hear him enter the room or she chose to ignore him. Judging by her temperament, he guessed it was the first reason. Curled up on her side of the bed, facing away from him, Addie had the black blanket pulled up around her shoulders but Damon could see them shudder as she gave a hiccuping cry. His stomach twisted in guilt.

The bed dipped as Addie felt Damon join her in it. She would have heard him if he had broken the door down. He must have unlocked it. That dick! She opened her mouth to start going off on him, this time about boundaries, but instead her lungs gasped for air as a fresh wave of tears began to flow.

Damon grabbed a pillow and positioned it so he lay slightly higher than Addie as he curled up next to her, back to chest. He knew better than to say anything to try and soothe her but he reckoned soft hushing sounds were acceptable. She tensed when his fingers brushed her cheek as he moved the hair stuck by tears to behind her ear. That hurt.

Quietly he murmured, "Addie, I -"

"Don't," she croaked, her voice hoarse from crying. "I don't," she had to pause for a shuddering sob, "want to talk."

He couldn't hold back his sigh as he continued to stroke her hair. If Addie had it her way, they'd probably never talk. Damon was willing to compromise; their conversation could wait until she stopped sobbing and had some sleep. He could probably use some sleep but there was no way he was going to be able to relax with her crying. It was ridiculous! She was crying over _nothing._ He felt so guilty but he hadn't actually done anything wrong!

 _Damon rolled his eyes and sarcastically replied, "Sorry for trying to keep you alive. Clearly Stefan doesn't give a crap anymore."_

 _Elena scoffed and shook her head. "Now you're mad at me for including Stefan?"_

" _No. I'm mad at you because I love you!" Damon snapped unthinkingly._

 _Visibly taken aback by this Elena asked, "Really?"_

" _Yes, of course. That doesn't mean you get passes to do stupid shit!" She had been so reckless to meet with Esther._

" _What about Addie?" she asked, frowning slightly._

 _He hesitated, baffled by the question. Addie wouldn't have left him out of the plan; she would have trusted that he wouldn't interfere. Although, he never would have permitted Addie to have a private meeting with the Original witch and he would have interfered and they would end up fighting about. If Esther insisted on a private meeting, would Addie have snuck behind his back to go, though? No, not unless someone she cared about was directly threatened. Addie was much more cautious than Elena when it came to supernatural perils. What would he do if Addie had met with Esther?_

" _I don't know," Damon answered, honest and slow._

" _But Stefan…," Elena trailed off in a small voice, her lips twisting into a guilty grimace._

" _I am_ not _concerned about Stefan! You think your sister's mood swings are bad? Have you spent a day with my brother lately? Those two are pretty compatible."_

 _She made a look of disgust. "Stefan and Addie?"_

 _Damon snorted humorlessly as he looked up at the vaulted ceiling, "With those two my hands are full. I can't handle complications from you, too."_

" _Yeah," Elena nodded slowly, "I definitely understand the complicated part."_

" _So stop causing problems and putting yourself in danger!" he snapped angrily._

" _Stop yelling at me!"_

" _Stop pissing me off."_

" _I'm not doing anything wrong! Your problem is just that you care too much!" she blurted out, quickly wishing she hadn't._

 _He did care. A lot. Far too much. More than he ever had before. He'd become so much more connected to his humanity. Unfortunately humanity was strategy's greatest weakness._

" _I'm a liability," he muttered in realization. "How ironic is that?"_

" _That's not what I met," Elena amended swiftly, catching Damon by the arm as he made to walk out of the library._

 _He brushed her off dismissively. Her words weren't his problem._

 _Trying to stop him, she called out, "I understand how you feel, Damon. I feel it too."_

 _He highly doubted Elena knew how he felt. Sonnet 116 love was all consuming. Elena did not have that with Stefan. If she had that with Stefan, Elena never would have said she felt the same way about Stefan as she did him. The love he felt for Addie was so much that it drove him mad, literally on occasion. No one could manage to feel that for two people._

Damon curled his arm around Addie's waist and buried his face in her hair. It was odd smelling his own shampoo on her instead of her usual cucumber melon. Even as he held her, she shook and shuddered each time she took a breath. Addie tried to hide her sniffles but Damon knew from them tears were still streaming down her rosy cheeks. She had worked herself up into such an inconsolable state that she wouldn't even listen to him if he tried to tell her what he had meant. He'd seen Addie cry a few times but he had never seen her distraught and sobbing.

He wanted to tell her he loved her but that was probably a pretty bad idea. She'd go off on some rant about how his words meant nothing since he'd said it to her sister. Instead he just laid with her in his arms, hurting, crying and all because of him. After nearly an hour, her sniffles and gasping breaths had subsided. He tightened his hold on her encouragingly. Thirty minutes later she was softly snoring. Odd. Addie didn't snore; it must have been due to the stuffy nose from crying. Poor thing. She couldn't even breathe properly because of him.

Just as he was drifting off, there was a knock at the door, which he had every intention of ignoring. Stefan could answer it.

"I'm not getting that," his brother said from up in his room as the visitor knocked again.

Then they could just leave. Or bang much louder and more insistently at the door, making it clear they weren't leaving anytime soon. He scowled as he slowly moved away from Addie, careful not to wake her. Damon was halfway across the bedroom when he just barely heard her sleepily mumble something about a shirt. Probably for him to put one on, he realized, noticing his bare chest. It was nice to know she was still a little possessive about who he displayed himself to, he thought as he grabbed a black button up from his closet.

Addie considered going back to sleep once Damon left the room but it was curious that someone was calling at the house so early. It was odd that someone was calling at the boarding house at all. It did mean Damon would be distracted dealing with the visitor, in which case she could probably slip out. Quietly, in case Damon happened to be listening for her, Addie got out of bed and slipped on a spare pair of Converse she kept in his closet.

Heading downstairs, Addie froze on the steps at the sound of her sister's voice.

"You should know that Esther is planning on killing her entire family. She's linked them all together with a spell. Whatever happens to one of them happens to all of them," Elena informed Damon.

That was… well, it was a permanent solution to their Original problem. It might not be the best or fairest solution but it didn't involve anyone Addie cared about dying, except for Rebekah, but if she was permitted to live without Klaus to keep her in check, Rebekah would kill Elena in a heartbeat. It wasn't exactly like Elena didn't have it coming after using the Original sister and then literally stabbing her in the back. It was more Elena's fault that Rebekah would kill her than it was Rebekah's. So, if Elena hadn't been such a bitch Rebekah wouldn't have to die. _Another person dead because of Elena!_

Addie had to wonder just exactly how many people were going to die before everyone stopped protecting Elena and let nature take its course. It wasn't like she wanted her sister dead, it just seemed like Elena was conveniently escaping death through someone else's misfortune at every turn. When would enough be enough? When would they stop fighting the inevitable? It was selfish but Addie wasn't sure she wanted to die for Elena. Jeremy she'd die for in a heartbeat but he wasn't trying to escape some supernatural grim reaper determined to kill him like Elena was. Was there such a thing as grim reapers? She'd have to ask Dam - no, Bonnie about that.

"What are we doing?" came a whisper in Addie's ear, startling her and making her noisily stumble down a couple of stairs. Stefan had a slight smirk as he pointed out, "You kind of just defeated my purpose of whispering."

"Lurky McLurkster wants to be a creep and scare little girls. How nice," Addie sneered back softly and sarcastically.

"Actually, I kind of just figured if you were here and awake, you'd be screaming at my brother. Coupled with the fact that your sister is in the same room, I'm really surprised to see there isn't a nuclear war going on," he shrugged nonchalantly.

Her jaw clenched. This was why she hated siblings; nothing was ever a private matter. Addie gave him a sly smile but her voice was tense and restrained as she retorted, "I was planning on whether I wanted to engage in biological warfare, you know, rat poisoning in Elena's food and extra vervain in Damon's drinks, or if I just wanted to drop an atomic bomb and watch the relationships I have with both of them completely explode. Both sides have their perks."

Stefan frowned in thought. "It might be kinda hard to get Damon to ingest vervain. I mean, he already takes it so he knows his drinks will smell like it but if you add more he might notice the stronger scent."

"I'll cook it into something."

"Could work. Once you get him down, feel free to use the cellar. Now, you realize arsenic poisoning would be fatal to your sister?"

"I'm aware of that," she nodded slowly.

"Both plans are fine. It just depends if you want immediate results or if you can wait for your revenge," Stefan concluded.

Addie loudly banged her head against the banister of the stairs three times before grumbling, "I'm kidding, Stefan."

"What's going on?" asked a very curious and slightly annoyed Damon as he moved into the foyer.

Stefan smiled smugly at his older brother. "We were just talking about you."

"You know, you _really_ suck at the whole diabolical supervillain thing," Addie muttered as she gave him a cold, scornful look.

"Because you're such a master at it?" challenged Stefan.

Not liking the banter between his brother and girlfriend nor the fact that they had undoubtedly had been talking about him Damon interjected, "She has a seven step plan on how to take over Iceland. Addie doesn't need any advice on how to be evil. You hear the great news?"

"What?"

"It's not great news!" Elena objected indignantly. "To kill Klaus Esther has to kill all of her children, including Elijah. He doesn't deserve this."

"Yeah, well, hey," Addie shrugged helplessly, "neither does Rebekah but you know, we gotta kill whoever it takes to make sure we get rid of the guy who wants to protect you for the rest of your life for just a couple of pints of blood in return." Elena opened her mouth but Addie carried on, adding as an after thought, "Maybe we should really reconsider taking him up on that offer. Do you realize you are, like, constantly dodging death? Going into the Human Blood Bag Protection Program might be the safest thing you could do."

Elena's lips pursed as she observed, "You've been crying. Why have you been crying?"

"Your sister wants to hand you over to Klaus for safe keeping and you notice that she's been crying?" Damon quipped. "Do you really think that's the biggest issue right now?"

She tilted her head slightly as she studied him. "Depends. Is it your fault she was crying?"

"We need to act fast if we're going to get Elena into the Human Blood Bag Protection Program. I have a feeling Esther isn't going to wait long before making her move," Addie said loudly, not wanting to be the topic of conversation.

"Klaus is going to die," snapped Damon, "and not just because of Elena!"

"You," Addie seethed as she pointed an accusatory finger at him, "don't get to talk."

"He is the reason you've been crying," inferred Elena. She slapped Damon on the shoulder and demanded, "What did you do to my baby sister?"

"I'm hardly a baby. Stefan, are you backing the Human Blood Bag Protection Program?"

"I didn't do anything!"

"I think you two better not do anything to screw this up," Stefan answered loudly, speaking over Elena, who was about to start in on Damon.

Elena huffed, rolled her eyes and beckoned for her sister to follow her out the door. "Come on, Addie."

Addie mentally blessed her sister. There was no way Elena was leaving without her if she knew Addie had been crying because of Damon. Quickly she scampered down the last few steps after the older girl.

"We weren't done," Damon said firmly, his hand flying out to catch Addie by the wrist as she tried to leave. He wasn't stupid; he knew she was avoiding the confrontation.

Spinning on her heel, Elena scoffed humorlessly as she moved back inside to pull the vampire's hand off her little sister. With an unspoken threat lacing her words Elena told him, "Oh, you are mostly definitely done."

"Addison," he said sternly, crossing his arms as he peered at her with his piercing blue eyes.

Addie tapped her lips with her index finger as she pretended to think. "Toughie."

"You can't keep avoiding this."

"Hey, Elena, how long did I not talk to you when you were in freshman year?" Addie asked her sister lightly, ignoring Damon.

"A good seven months."

Addie nodded fervently as she looked back to Damon. "I avoided her for that long and I live with her. Really, you should know by now that you can't tell me what to do."

Damon scowled as he stepped right up to her, so close that she had to tilt her head back to look at him. He didn't like playing the height card as a power ploy but Addie wasn't leaving him with very many options. "You can't avoid this because I'm not going to let you," he promised. "Really, you should know by now how determined I can be."

"We're leaving," Elena declared, tugging sharply on the back of her sister's shirt before she could reply. A showdown between Addie and Damon was not something she wanted to deal with. Both of them were obviously already overly tense. Thankfully there were no more objections as Addie made her way out the door.

"Neither of you better not do anything to screw this up!" Damon warned after the two sisters.

* * *

When she got home Addie had tried to get some sleep but it was too late in the day. Her body was wired to awake at those hours so she suffered through the day feeling miserably drowsy. Of course the second she would lie down her mind would go into overdrive about Damon and Elena. She wondered if that would be preferable to listening to Elena rant about Damon as Elena move animatedly about her room, watching from Elena's bed.

"He was just being so controlling. And then he got mad at me because I had to have Stefan break his neck to keep him out of the way. Then he stormed off all mad and broody and got into a fight! Seriously, Addie, how did you put up with it?" Elena sighed, exasperated.

"Well, we stopped dating so Damon and his little temper tantrums aren't exactly my problem anymore. Unless you plan on dating him, I wouldn't recommend making them your problem, either. He has anger management issues and is more prone to outburst than a two-year-old," Addie answered sassily as she fluffed the pillow under her head and looked up at the ceiling. She didn't want to face her sister. She was mad at Elena for being so interested in Damon. "However," she strongly stressed, "I probably didn't have nearly as many problems with Damon as you do because _A)_ I'm naturally more manipulative than you so I think he tries to control me less. That, or, he's not as surprised when I don't listen so he's not as prone to acting out. And _B)_ I never resorted to actually snapping his neck to get around him. Not answering my phone? Guilty. Bodily injury? Negatory. If _you_ snapped _my_ neck I'd sure as hell be picking a fight with you, not someone else. I say to view the fact that Damon didn't snap your neck in return shows his remarkable progress in self-control from the days when he ripped Bonnie's throat out over a rock."

"You're actually going to defend him for getting into a fight with Klaus' brother and snapping _his_ neck? As if we don't already have enough Original issues!" Elena gawked, her eyes practically bulging out of her skull.

It was difficult for Addie to stifle her groan of disgust and annoyance. How had Damon fallen in love with someone who thought so poorly of him? It would be one thing if Elena was worthy of Damon's love but losing him to someone who didn't appreciate him was just pitiful. She almost felt bad for him. Almost.

"I'm not defending him. I'm just saying that had I been in his place I would have acted a lot worse by snapping your neck. I'm also saying that as far as Damon's little tantrums and outburst go, picking a fight, even with an Original, isn't that dramatic."

Entering from the bathroom Caroline snorted, "What does he have to do for you to consider it dramatic? Damon's a walking mess of trouble." Sympathetically she added to Bonnie, "This privacy spell isn't working."

"When Esther did it there was a whole lot of smoke. She kept the sage burning," Elena recalled.

"Alright," Bonnie muttered, lighting the plant on fire with her mind again. She waved a hand for Caroline to go back into the bathroom. "Try again. But seriously, what is dramatic for Damon, in your opinion?"

"I tend to consider any outburst where he doesn't kill or try to kill someone innocent pretty mild," said Addie.

"That's, like, no expectation of appropriate behavior at all," her sister scoffed.

That wasn't true; there had been plenty of occasions where innocent people had died or almost died from Damon's temper. Addie's eyes narrowed as she stared at the ceiling and icily replied, "That's the problem you're always going to have with Damon. You want to hold him to these expectations of morality while Damon doesn't do expectations. In fact, he does the opposite; if people expect good from Damon, he subconsciously is bad. Or maybe it's consciously. When people expect nothing or bad, that's when he's on better behavior."

"That's so messed up," Elena uttered, plopping on the bed.

It made complete sense to Addie. It wasn't exactly performance anxiety that Damon had but it was akin to it. How could Damon not see that her sister was so not right for him?

"So, off of Damon. Esther came by to see Abby and me this morning," Bonnie said into the stretching silence.

More good news, Addie was sure. "What did she want?"

"She wanted to introduce herself," Bonnie shrugged uncomfortably under the scrutinizing looks of the Gilbert sister. "Abby and I helped bring her back. She's channeling our entire ancestral bloodline for power. I think she thought she was being polite."

"Ok, well, is there a way to stop her from channeling you?"

That time Addie didn't restrain herself from shoving Elena with her foot. Elena had no right to ask that of Bonnie. Bonnie had already been through so much, all for the sake of Elena. She had lost her grandmother. Her mother had kidnapped her. Damon had almost killed her. Klaus had almost killed her. The whole situation just wasn't fair to Bonnie.

"Even if there was, why would I want that?"

Elena stopped glaring at Addie and turned towards her best friend, a pleading look on her face. "I just keep thinking…. Before the sun and the moon ritual, Elijah found a way to keep me alive. Now I'm in exactly the same position and I'm just gonna let him die? It just doesn't feel right."

Why couldn't her feelings for Damon just not feel right?

Caroline entered the room once again, her manner determined. "Ok. First of all, this privacy spell is totally not working. Second, Elena, you are not doing this; Esther is doing this."

"There's no time to change your mind, Elena. He'll be dead by the end of the night," Bonnie told her. At Elena's questioning look she explained, "It's a full moon. Esther needs to harness the energy of a celestial event. She asked Abby and me to join her."

* * *

From the armchair, Addie exchanged looks with Elena, who sat on the couch, when there was knock at the door. They both shook their heads at the same time. It was a battle of wills as they stared each other down, both silently telling the other to get the door. Eventually Addie caved as the knocking grew more insistent. Politeness trumped a little spat with Elena.

"Addison," Elijah greeted, smiling pleasantly when she opened the door.

Something was wrong. Something was off. There was a dark mist or shadow clinging to Elijah. He was up to no good. This was particularly unsettling; he had been the only vampire she had never received an ill feeling about.

Trying to play it off as if everything was normal Addie greeted him just as fondly, "Elijah."

"I don't mean to intrude. I was hoping that your sister and you might accompany me. I want to show you something."

No way in hell was she going anywhere with him.

At this point Elena had come up behind Addie and readily agreed, "Of course. Just let me get my coat."

Addie's fingers nervously went to her hair. There wasn't any way she could get Elena out of the situation without it looking very, very suspicious. That might set off Elijah for whatever he was planning. Perhaps if Elena did go with him, though, it would stall him from his ultimate goal, at least long enough for Addie to get help.

"Actually, I'm terribly sorry but I can't. I have a Latin paper and a lot of physics homework on electric currents due tomorrow," Addie said, trying to sound as apologetic and guilt ridden as possible.

Elijah's brow briefly furrowed. He obviously hadn't anticipated a negative response. Her role in whatever he was doing must not have been very vital because soon he was smiling again and waving his hand dismissively. "I completely understand. I'll just have your sister tell you about it later."

"Thanks. Excuse me," she replied with a weak grin before going upstairs, taking them two at a time.

A few minutes later she heard Elijah and Elena leave. Fan-fricking-tastic. The one Original they thought they could trust had gone over to the dark side. Instinctively Addie reached for her phone, ready to call for help. She had gone to the list of her favorite contacts before changing her mind. First, Addie tried calling Alaric, knowing he was at the Grill with Dr. Fell, but he didn't answer. Next, she tried Stefan, though she debated whether or not his feelings of concern for Elena's welfare in the position to care at the moment, but he didn't answer. Addie went back to her favorites and sent a text message.

 _Addie: I got a bad vibe from Elijah. He's up to something. Elena just left with him. He said he wanted to show her something. He tried to get me to go to but he let it slide when I said I had too much homework._

The response was almost instantaneous.

 **Damon: Anything else?**

 _Addie: Esther plans on killing her kids tonight because she needs the energy of the full moon. Bonnie and Abby are going to help her. She's drawing on the ancestral bloodline for power. That's all I know._

 **Damon: Can I trust you to stay out it of this while I handle this or do I need to tie you up and lock you in your room until this is all over?**

She briefly hesitated; she didn't like being kept in the dark. However, Elena's life could be at stake.

 _Addie: Yes._

At least she hadn't had to actually talk to Damon.

* * *

Addie had tried to stay out of it, she really had, but when Damon didn't answer her text and all Stefan and Alaric responded with were that they had not seeing Elena since the morning, Addie had somehow found herself in the middle of it.

The door opened before she could even knock. Softly, angrily Damon hissed at her, "Go home."

"What's going on?" she questioned, her brows knitting together in confusion.

"I said I'd handle this. You said you stay out of it," he reminded her , his voice still quiet and furious. "Go home."

"Is she here?" Addie wondered. Perhaps she was interrupting their quality time and that was why he was so upset.

Damon frowned. "I'll get her back."

"Get her back?" she repeated, her voice cracking. "Like she's being held hostage?"

From behind Addie Stefan suddenly appeared, saying, "I can't find her anywhere."

Damon gave his brother a seething glare at his horrible timing before reluctantly moving aside so his brother could enter. Addie decided to use the opportunity to dart past him, as he knew she would.

Addie almost bumped into Stefan, who had come to a halt at the entrance to the living room. Moving to see around him, she bit her lip nervously. Elijah sat by the fire. She felt Damon's arm wrap protectively around her waist as he came to stand next to her. Scowling, Addie pushed him away.

"Hello, Stefan. How is that homework coming along, Addison?" Elijah inquired amiably.

"He has Elena," explained Damon.

Elijah held up a solitary finger and clarified, "Actually, she's with Rebekah. As you can imagine, my sister is just dying to tear her throat out. So, if you want to save Elena's life, I need you to help me stop my mother."

"Completely reasonable request," Addie nodded. After all, it was Elena's blood that had linked all the Original siblings together and put Elijah in such a predicament.

"If we knew how to do it!" Damon exclaimed. "Sorry, Addie, but I'm a little," he held his index finger and thumb a small distance apart, "embarrassed to admit this but when it comes to killing thousand year old resurrected witches, I'm a little rusty. But if you know how to do it, please, do share."

"And completely a dick," she noted, smiling pleasantly at Elijah.

Elijah gave her a small smile before acknowledging Damon's mini rant. "Yes, unfortunately, even when killed my mother doesn't seem to want to stay dead. Not with the spirits of nature at her side."

Pointedly Stefan asked, "So, what are we supposed to do?"

"The witches that released my mother, she's drawing her power from their bloodline. That line needs to be broken."

"Broken?" Addie and Stefan said simultaneously.

"Yeah, he means," Damon made a cutting motion with his forefinger over his throat.

"Um, no," Addie scoffed humorlessly. They obviously weren't going to do that.

Damon looked at her in confusion. "It's that or your sister dies."

"So, we get to decide the Bonnie and Abby's lives are worth less than Elena's?" she challenged. "I don't think so. Ever notice how everyone is always bending over backwards to save Elena? And every time someone dies? Ever think the universe might be telling us something?"

"You want to let your sister die?" Stefan snapped sharply.

Addie shook her head slowly. "No, no. I just think we need to explore other possibilities before we jump to killing more people to save Elena."

"Fine. What exactly do you expect us to do?" Damon sighed impatiently, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Suddenly there was a loud crash and something was constricting around Addie's throat. She was being moved through the air and then she wasn't. She was sitting. She blinked several times, stars blinding her as she struggled for a breath. The pressure around her throat wasn't just suffocating, it was painful.

She heard primal, animalistic growling and then the sound of cloth ripping and flesh squelching. Her vision cleared to reveal Elijah right in front of her, one hand around her throat, the other hand in Damon's chest cavity. From the look of anguish on the younger vampire's face Addie guessed Elijah was holding his heart.

"I expect you to kill," Elijah said, his voice dangerously soft and threatening. "If Elena's life alone is not incentive enough, know that I will kill Addison, as well."

"Don't," Addie choked out, her eyes pleading as they met Damon's.

Looking at her, he nodded once before speeding out of the house. Was that nod meant for her or Elijah?

* * *

As far as being held hostage went, Elijah was probably one of the nicest captors. He had apologized for hurting her, scaring her, and even using her as leverage. He was just doing what he need to do to save the lives of the ones he loved and his own. Addie could understand that. She just wished his solution didn't involve killing the people she cared about.

A couple of hours had passed with no news from Stefan or Damon. It was close to 8:30 and Addie could feel her anxiety rising as she walked in circles around the spacious living room. They had to find a solution where everyone lived; it was the only option. While Elena might be fated to die, it wasn't exactly like Addie wished it up her sister. But Bonnie and her mom definitely didn't deserve to die just to keep Elena and Rebekah alive. She didn't exactly care about anyone else. She didn't like either option presented to her; Damon needed a new plan.

Elijah gasped loudly, drawing Addie's attention. He was double over in the wingback chair, slowly turning grey, desiccating. To himself he mumbled, "Something's wrong." Elijah fixed his eyes on Addie as he ordered, "Don't move," before flashing off into the night, leaving the door wide open behind him.

"You know, you'd think by now people would get the message that I'm probably not going to listen to them," Addie mused aloud as she picked up her keys off the end table and left the house.

Something had obviously had happened; whether it was a success or failure on Damon's end, she wasn't sure. Typically, she would wait to for him to come back to the boarding house but Addie didn't particularly feel like talking to Damon about anything besides the situation involving the Originals. However, she knew Damon; he'd brush that topic quickly aside for what _he_ wanted to talk about. Addie wasn't certain she wanted to hear why he had fallen in love with Elena, or how, or when, or whatever other crap he wanted to say about Elena. It didn't matter. It didn't change anything. She wasn't ready to accept that her boyfriend had fallen in love with her sister _again._ She wondered if they need to have the official break-up conversation or if him confessing his love for someone else already just kind of implied that they were done.

When she got home, Addie headed up to her room, determined not to think about Elena or Damon or anything supernatural. It was a lot of unnecessary drama that she just needed some distance from every now and then. Thousand year old witches resurrecting and a whole family being killed in a single strike and power from ancestral bloodlines was just a little too much for her to handle on top of the drama of reality. While neither made logical sense, Damon falling for Elena seemed much more reasonable than resurrecting those who've been dead a thousand years. Addie rubbed at her forehead as she leaned against her bedroom door. Figuring out her life was like trying to solve a 1000 piece puzzle that was some ambiguous shape, with every single piece painted solid black. She liked puzzles but really complicated one made her really frustrated.

Needing a distraction, she decided to take advantage of the quiet house and take a bubble bath, after a quick shower. There was no persuading her that taking a bath was nothing more than sitting and washing in your own filth if you didn't shower first. And lakes and oceans were swimming in fish waste and pollution. Pools were only acceptable if there was so much chlorine that it made her eyes burn. Addie didn't have an issue with germs or being dirty, it just didn't make sense as to why people would want to expose themselves to health hazards. As the tub filled, she poured in a cap full of the strawberry scented liquid. A thin layer of bubbles formed. She allowed her inner child to take over for a moment as she turned the half-filled bottle of bubble bath upside down, completely emptying it. The bubbles quickly formed, rising high above the rim of the bathtub.

If she got and the tub and just soaked, Addie knew her mind would wander to unpleasant places. Instead, she set up her phone to playback an audio recording of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's short stories of Sherlock Holmes. At least in those everything made sense. She turned the volume all the way up on her phone and left it on the counter, the reader's deep, soothing voice filling the tiny space. Addie winced as she stepped into the bath, slowly lowering herself. The water was scalding; but, it did loosen up the muscles in her legs, which she hadn't even noticed were tense. Balancing on those damn heels all night had been more brutal than hours of endless running.

When she was fully submerged in the water, Addie rested her head against the bath pillow and let her eyes slip shut as she got lost in the story being told to her. There was the one about the snake that traveled the vents to kill its victims. And the one about the murdering horse. She was halfway through the story about the six Napoleon bust when the recording suddenly stopped. Addie's eyes flew open in alarm; there was no way that her phone had died.

"Get out!" Addie exclaimed as she saw Damon standing at the vanity, her phone in hand. She hadn't even heard him come in. Self-consciously she sunk lower into the water and made sure the heaping amounts of bubbles effectively covered her. Damon obviously had other plans, as he pushed himself to sit on the edge of the counter. More firmly she barked, "Leave!"

"I'm sorry that it's come to this but it seems like cornering you where you won't leave is the only way I'm going to get to talk to you, especially after tonight," he finally said, his voice unusually grim and serious.

"Oh my god! Have you not heard of privacy? Personal space? I put up with your boundary issues but this is too far, Damon! You need to leave," she yelled, pointing at the door. Not only was she naked, she didn't want to talk to him.

Sighing, he leaned back, resting his weight on his palms. "I get that you're upset and I get why but I'm not leaving until I get to say my piece. Now, to be fair, I'm not going to stop you if you try and leave."

"This is not some competition of wills! This is not something up for discussion! You crossed a big red line when you came in here and you need to back the fuck up," snarled Addie. She wasn't up for playing games with him.

Damon nodded in agreement as he acknowledged, "I know I crossed a line but I'm desperate and you're stubborn. But, I'm stubborn too."

"Get out!" she repeated frustratedly.

He ran over his face as he reminded himself to remain patient and calm. No good would come from both of them getting worked up. Reasonably Damon pointed out, "The sooner we get this little talk over with, the sooner I'll leave."

Addie's lips pressed into a thin line as she considered this. Sharply she snapped, "Did you kill Bonnie and her mom?"

"I'd rather not discuss tonight first."

"That's the only thing I'm interested in discussing. If you're not going to discuss that than I'm going to leave. You _don't_ have me cornered like you think."

The urge to roll his eyes was strong but Damon resisted. "I know when you're bluffing, Ads."

"First of all, you don't get to call me that anymore. Secondly, you said you love my sister. If you really think I'm at a place where I care if you see me get out of the bath, you're delusional. I am not bluffing. I don't care what you think anymore," Addie retorted icily.

Damon ran his hand through his hair. She was taking what he said a lot worse than it actually was. On the one hand he could understand why she was acting so hurt and betrayed based on the way she was interpreting things but on the other hand….

"You can't quit on us. You can't just give up on me because of this," Damon suddenly realized as he recalled her promises. "You get to break up with me if I drug you again, which I have not, or if I cheat on you, which I also have not done. I have been nothing but nauseatingly committed to you and only you."

Addie leaned her head back against the bath pillow and let her eyes drift shut. She had promised Damon that. She had given him that guarantee that she wouldn't use him like Katherine or string him along like Elena. She wanted to be fair to him; but, what about being fair to herself? She deserved to be better than someone's second pick.

"One last time before I leave I'm going to give you the chance to tell me what happened tonight," Addie decided. She couldn't handle sorting out her feelings and promises at the moment.

"Well, first Alaric tried to dagger Kol to take them all down but that didn't work out so well. Elijah pushed up the deadline to right away instead of 9:06. We didn't really have a choice but to follow his plan," Damon admitted reluctantly. He really hoped she wasn't going to flip over what he had done.

"You killed Bonnie and Abby?"

"Bonnie is safe," he quickly reassured her, hearing the crack in her voice. "We had to break the bloodline by just killing one of them. I… well, I thought turning Abby into a vampire was better than having her _dead_ dead. So, I fed her my blood and killed her. She couldn't be a servant of nature and a vampire at the same time."

Through gritted teeth she hissed, "You had no right to make that decision for her."

"She can still choose not to feed and die!" Damon said defensively. "I _had_ to stop Esther. Vampire was the best option I could come up with in five minutes."

"You didn't have to do anything," Addie spat out in disgust.

Damon snorted bitterly as he shook his head in disbelief. She just didn't get it. "Addie, I _had_ to stop Esther because I could not risk Elijah killing you. I'd rather you be alive and hate me than for you to be dead."

"You don't just get to kill people or make life altering decisions for them just to keep me alive! I told you not to do it, Damon, and you couldn't even respect that!"

"No, Addie, I'm damn well never going to respect something that could result in your death!" Damon bit back, his voice rising to meet the level of hers, unable to keep his cool any longer. "You are _everything_ to me. My sun rises and sets with _you_. You are the reason I do the majority of what I do and I _like_ the person you make me want to be. But no matter what, I'm still always going to be that selfish dick that you first met who is always looking out for himself. I will always put your safety above your happiness because the only way I know how to function anymore is by knowing that you are ok."

Addie stood up and quickly snatched the towel off the closed toilet and wrapped it around her. She noticed Damon avert his gaze and felt slightly less mortified but was mostly too annoyed with him to feel much else. Bubbles still clinging to her legs, she stormed past him, declaring, "I'm not having this conversation."

Damon just barely caught the door before she slammed it in his face and pushed it open. Pleadingly he implored, "Just answer me this: why-"

Addie quickly cut him off as she rummaged through her dresser for clothes, "Leave, Damon! You said you wouldn't stop me from leaving so I left. There was a bit of an unspoken agreement that you wouldn't follow me, don't you think?"

"I'm not in a particularly agreeable mood so I'm ignoring that agreement," he retorted flippantly.

Just as coolly she bit back, "You're putting me in a particularly foul mood so I might just decide to ignore those promises I made to you."

His lips pursed as he thought. Finally he conceded, "I don't have an argument against that. You always win these arguments because I'm the one who wants something."

"No, no, no," Addie corrected, her voice patronizing and sweet. "'I want you to leave. I don't win until you do that."

"Fine. I'll go but know I'm only going because you're winning this argument just like you have every other one: I have more to lose if I don't back down," Damon scowled, closing the bathroom door.

How could he possibly have more to lose? She lost him. What loss was greater than that?

* * *

His hand was warm in hers, his fingers rough and calloused. She looked down at him; he looked peaceful with an arm casually thrown over his eyes shielding them from the sun. He also looked like an idiot. She couldn't explain why he wore a loose fitting, white, linen shirt. It was a button up, like most of his shirts, but the collar was much more open exposing more of his chest than usual. The sleeves weren't pushed up like usual but actually cuffed at his wrist, though she could barely tell as the shirt was so loose there. The shirt was odd but the wool pants and suspenders were bizarre. She wasn't sure if the clothes or the hair, unstyled, longer and curling slightly, was more surprising.

"Of course," she grumbled in disgust as she looked down at herself. Only in her worst nightmare would she be dressed in a pale blue dress with white lace, a giant hoop skirt, and matching white boots. She even had a lacey white sun parasol.

"What's that, dear?" Damon asked lazily, giving her hand an affectionate squeeze.

"I'm dreaming," Addie mumbled as she took in her surroundings. The were at the lake inside the quarry; more specifically, they were on the bank where Damon had completed his transition into a vampire.

He hummed contently and agreed, "Yes, every moment with you is like a dream."

"I'm having a nightmare," she corrected.

Damon finally uncovered his face and looked at her curiously, his eyes squinting in the sun. "This is a nightmare? What's a good dream?"

"Right now? Anything not involving you. Really, I'd much prefer a nightmare of Klaus and Stefan than have you torment my subconscious. You do enough of that during my waking hours," Addie scowled, tossing his hand aside and crossing her arms in a pout.

He snorted in disbelief, "You'd rather relive the crap you saw this summer than enjoy a nice summer day with me? How do you know you're not having a good dream and your attitude is just making it a nightmare?"

"There are a million reasons I know this is a nightmare, none of which have to do with my attitude," she snarked back. "I don't travel through time in good dreams; it's not logical. I'd never wear this in a good dream. You wouldn't be present in a good dream. And I _always_ have a - nevermind. I don't know why I'm explaining myself to you. You don't deserve any explanations. No, you're a figment of my subconscious. I don't need to explain myself to myself; that's just redundant."

Slowly, he sat up next to her and finished, "You always have a nightmare when you don't sleep with me?"

"I really need to get over that needy and dependent habit. It's disgusting," Addie spat, picking up a rock and throwing it into the lake.

"I don't mind," Damon grinned, nudging her shoulder with his. "You're so… independent. I'm not use to that. I come from a time where men did everything for women. It's nice to know that I can do something for you. Plus," he continued, his voice dropping as if he were whispering a secret, "you're not the only one who sleeps better. I don't sleep as well without being tangled up with you. I don't sleep for as long and I wake up a lot during the night. It gives me peace of mind knowing that my heart is safely in my arms"

Addie took a deep breath and sighed loudly. She didn't want to talk to Damon. She didn't want to hear him say sweet things. "When in 1864 are we?"

"What?"

"Obviously we're back in time. I'm just wondering if it's before you met Katherine or after."

"What does that matter?"

"I'm wondering whether or not my subconscious believes you're just naturally a dick or if she just really fucked you up that bad," Addie explained, desperate for a change in topic.

"You really think one person could shape someone so much?"

"Honestly, I don't know what to believe when it comes to you, Damon," she admitted, looking to the sky as if it had the answer.

"Perhaps this isn't a nightmare but a chance for you to figure out what you truly believe and how you really feel."

Addie gave him a dirty look and scoffed, "Apparently I believe you don't really know me because if you did know me you'd know that dealing with my emotions, particularly when it comes to you, _is_ a nightmare."

"It's only a nightmare because you're afraid of the truth. You already know the truth," he replied cryptically.

"I do? Well, please enlighten me, Yoda, because weak is the force in me," Addie replied, imitating the Star Wars character.

"You use humor to run from the truth."

She nodded as she reflected, "You're right. The smarter thing to do would be to run from you. And since you're human and not on the Varsity track team, I could probably outrun you."

Damon shrugged his shoulders slightly, as if he was only mildly interested in her idea. "You could try that but the truth always catches up to you. And I'm not bound by the laws of space and time in your _nightmare_. Don't you think I could just teleport to where you run to."

"That would be cheating," Addie whined. "Besides, that's not possible; there's no teleporting in 1864."

"I've never played fair. And I think your subconscious has proved that anything is possible by sending us back to 1864 and making me human," he countered.

"Why can't I wake up?" she demanded. The whole time she had been commanding her body to but it just wasn't responding. Usually she could wake up from the nightmares.

"Because you haven't faced the truth."

"Well, I have to wake up at some point. My alarm _will_ go off for school. I don't have to face the truth," she argued.

"True but will it feel like you're only stuck in this dream for minutes or will your subconscious torture you and make you feel like you've been here for decades?"

"You know, I'm naming my subconscious Ingrid. Ingrid has already proven that she's a sadist bitch by stick me here with you," Addie scoffed. After a second her brows furrowed in confusion. "Wait, if Ingrid is part of me does that make her a masochist?"

Damon laid back down, tossing his arm back over his face. "I'm just going to enjoy the warmth of the sun while I can still feel it. Though, I feel like we might be here for quite a bit. When you decide you want to talk, let me know."

"Dick," Addie muttered under her breath, realizing she never got an answer about if he had met Katherine or not.

What truth was she supposed to be figuring out? What truth did she already know? Could she weasel it out of flirty, sweet Damon or did she have to be blunt and direct about it? Why wouldn't her damn alarm clock just go off? It felt like she had been stuck by the lake for hours.

"Do you even know the truth or are you just tormenting me?" she eventually demanded, giving up on trying to figure it out on her own.

Damon moved his arm, light blue eyes meeting dark ones. Softly he confessed, "No and the idea of learning it terrifies me."

Addie threw her hands up in the air, groaning in frustration. "If you don't even know the truth how the hell am I supposed to figure it out? How do I know when I know? How do I even know what it's about? This is so _stupid!"_

"The truth is something you fear."

"You already told me that but how do you even know that?" she demanded.

"Your instinct is to run from problems. Figuratively and literally. When we met that night in the rain on that road, you were running from everything. It was easier for you to run than it was for you to take control of your life. Now, I don't know if it's just that you don't want the control or if you're afraid of it or if you're tired of it or what but you're running again!"

Frowning at him, Addie crossed her arms and sassed, "You happen to be a very opinionated part of me. I disapprove."

"Love," Damon chuckled wearily, "all of you is opinionated."

"Well, not all of me is so blunt about it," she quipped back.

He snorted, "No but all of you is almost completely blind to subtlety."

"You know what? I hate you as much as I hate the real Damon," Addie decided, her everys narrowing as she glared at him.

"You don't _really_ hate me."

"No," Addie conceded, "but I hate that I love you."

Damon was quiet for a long time, mindlessly tugging at the strap of his suspenders. "How can you hate the type of love you have?"

"How can I like it? It makes me vulnerable to everyone, especially to Damon. He hurt me and now I'm still left loving him. My feelings for him haven't changed. That's probably not very healthy. Even before he hurt me I knew that I hated loving him. That's why I only ever told him I did that one time. Well, technically I told him twice but it was all kinda clumped together," she explained softly, very intent on picking blades of grass.

"That's it? You hate loving me because it makes you vulnerable and you still feel the same after I hurt you?" he asked, dumbfounded.

"There's more but I can't really describe it. I hate feeling like I need you. I hate missing you. I hate that you don't feel the same."

Not understanding, he shook his head in confusion. "How can you think that I don't feel the same?"

Addie gave a small shrug. "I used to think you did. Well, actually, I used to think you loved me more than I love you. You _didn't_ kill Katherine for me. You were determine to stop the sun and the moon ritual for me. You put up with all my ridiculous attitudes and quirks. You actually understood me. You pushed past all my fears of commitment to try and make us work. You were invested in me, in us."

"What changed?"

"You weren't invest in me; you were invest in protecting me. You became my trainer first and boyfriend second. Killing Klaus became your obsession. At first I told myself it was just because you wanted revenge for Stefan but it was more than that. You didn't like Klaus around me but you feared what he might do with Elena. Killing him became more about protecting her than me. And then I realized that you almost died to stop the sun and moon ritual to save Elena from a vampire fate _for Elena_. I was ok with that fate and asked you not to do anything stupid, like get yourself almost killed. You weren't concerned about me. You were trying to protect Elena the whole time, not just my sister. You didn't kill Katherine because it meant killing Elena. You fell for Elena first. I left for another country knowing that you would always care about my sister. I also knew she had feeling for you. It was stupid of me to think your.. Stronger feelings for her wouldn't return when you two were left alone and her feelings were made obvious. When we got together, you _were_ over Elena; I didn't feel like you second pick. But now I do," Addie ranted, the words tumbling off her tongue quicker and quicker as she spoke, each word with more feeling and animation.

She scoffed bitterly and said disgustedly, "The worst part is that she doesn't deserve you. I know my sister. You're always going to be _her_ second choice. Stefan will be the one she chooses in the end. Elena will never pick you for the same reason she and I will never be close: you're dark, mercurial, and overly sensitive. You act like you're not sensitive but you are, you really are. You'll be the fun little distraction while Stefan's emotions are all screwed up but once he's a real boy again, Elena will go right back to him and you'll be left crush. Elena is Katherine 2.0. They both care about you but you're not there number one. You deserve to be not just someone's number one but their _only one_. I think Katherine and Elena have made you think it's acceptable for you to be second best or to have to share. That's not how a relationship works.

"Elena's also never going to accept you for you. She'll never understand you. She doesn't know what it's like to have so much anger bottled up inside of you that you're constantly trying to keep in check but it eventually just explodes. I do. Granted, my anger manifests as anxiety attacks and not violent outburst but I understand that feeling of not having control over yourself for that brief moment. Do you notice you have less outburst when we're together and I have less anxiety attacks? It's because we bicker and bitch at each other. We let our emotions out on each other. And do you know why we always make up? Why neither one of us ever has to apologize? Because we know it's nothing personal. We make letting off that anger fun. Elena is not going to fight or bicker with you. With Elena, it's personal. With Elena, you have to apologize."

"Of course I'm upset over losing you," Addie inhaled deeply, finally calming down from her tirade. She wiped away the two tears that rolled down her left cheek. "I want you to be happy, though. If that's not with me, that's ok. But I just wish you had fallen for someone who wasn't going to break your heart."

Damon sighed as he sat next to her, pulling his knees to his chest. In a soft, uncertain voice he asked, "Is that true? Is that the truth? That's what you really believe? How you really feel?"

She stared at her hands in her lap, her vision blurring with unshed tears. In a choked whisper she answered, "Yes."

"I am the world's shittiest boyfriend," he said slowly, stressing each word.

"No," Addie laughed dryly, "You're just my subconscious telling me what I want to hear."

Suddenly she was pulled from the dream, the sound of someone softly repeating her name coaxing her to consciousness. Her eyelids, heavy with sleep, slowly fluttered with sleep. Spying the lamp on her desk glowing she became much more alert. Sitting in the desk chair was Damon, his elbow propped up on the desk and chin in his hand.

"What the hell are you doing?" Addie exclaimed furiously. "When I told you to leave earlier, I meant for you to stay gone. You need to go. Now." He just continued to stare at her intently, his brows furrowed. Huffing in annoyance she grabbed her firmest pillow and hurled it at him, yelling, "Get out!"

Damon made a of noise of peaked interest as he allowed the pillow to hit his face. This argument was the first time for either one of them to get so mad as to throw something. He'd thrown the glass into the into the fireplace when she had been posing what if questions about when it would be acceptable to run off with Klaus without letting him know and now she'd thrown th pillow. It wasn't unusual for him to break a glass or two but he had always had the restraint not to do it in front of her. Just the idea of her with Klaus really set him off. He wondered if it was his mere presence that was setting her off or the idea of him with Elena.

"We need to talk."

Her mouth quickly opened but she closed it, taking a deep, relaxing breath. "Yes," she agreed calmly. "I definitely think we need to discuss bounadries. I _literally_ let you get away with murder but this hole showing up in my bathroom and in my room in the middle of the night is unacceptable."

"I know."

"Then why are you doing it?" Addie demanded, rolling her eyes.

"I gave you space after you found out I was sleeping with Rose. You didn't talk to me for three weeks and when you did decide to again, I had somehow cheated on you even through we weren't together. I gave you space after drugging you. You didn't talk to me for about a month. Then when you start, you go all kamikaze and invite Klaus into the house, hand over our levera-"

Holding a hand up to stop him she curtly cut him off, "I am _not_ discussing anything Klaus related with you."

That was fine; he didn't particularly feel like fighting bout that particular topic at the moment, either. "Whatever. The point is, things go to hell when you cut me out. Not only do I spend weeks in agony, but I know you hurt, too. Also, you end up spending too much time in your own head and start coming up with some wild ideas. I've learned my lesson. If I'm going to give you space, you're going to know all the facts and there aren't going to be any misunderstandings. And apparently, the only way I'm going to get you to talk to me is if I keep crossing boundary lines," Damon declared, not sounding the least bit apologetic.

"I don't think you should get what you want for inappropriate behavior," she decided.

If playing nice didn't work, perhaps playing dirty would. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed loudly, "And I think you are proving exactly why I won't sleep with you. I hardly think you're mature enough to handle the physical aspects of a relationship if you can't even talk through your issues with me."

Addie licked her suddenly dry lips as she thought, "That's one thing I can say that I am honestly grateful and thankful to you for. If I had slept with you, I would definitely regret it. Thank you for doing right by me with that. A lot of guys would have taken advantage of the situation."

Pause. Rewind. What the hell had he done?

"Addie, you say that like what we have is over." She didn't acknowledge him. Nervous, he asked, "Have you already decided that? Is that what you want?"

Several minutes passed by neither of them saying anything. Damon kept getting thrown for loops; whatever he thought might help only seemed to make matters worse. Saying nothing might be his best chance. Finally, Addie managed one word as she wiped a single tear from her cheek.

* * *

 **A/N: Oh I'm just loving writing this. I think the next chapter might be my favorite to write. There is a really big twist but not if you were paying close attention and caught the clue. I'm really excited about it. I will try my best to get it up in less than a week but while most people have 4th of July as a holiday (be safe!). The week is one of my busiest of the year.**

 **As always, thank you guys so much for your comments for your comments and following and adding this to your favorites. I really do take what you guys say in the comments to heart and keep them in mind as I write and they do change things a little. And don't worry, Ipromise I will finish this story.**


	21. Chapter 20

"Addie, you say that like what we have is over." She didn't acknowledge him. Nervous, he asked, "Have you already decided that? Is that what you want?"

Several minutes passed by neither of them saying anything. Damon kept getting thrown for loops; whatever he thought might help only seemed to make matters worse. Saying nothing might be his best chance. Finally, Addie managed one word as she wiped a single tear from her cheek.

"Yes," Addie said quietly, staring at her hands as she picked at a loose thread on the blanket. She couldn't face Damon; if she did, she'd just take it all back and keep on being his Elena substitute.

It didn't make any sense. How could she just give up on them so easily? The girl he fell in love with didn't back down from a challenge. The girl he fell in love with was anally logical and everything had to have order. What she was doing, shutting him out without even giving him a chance to explain himself was completely out of character. The only other person she treated that way was… Elena, and she thought he was in love with Elena. Perhaps it didn't seem so nonsensical in Addie's mind.

Damon ran a hand through his hair, mumbling, "I don't know what to do." He didn't know if he wanted to yell at her in anger or plead with her in desperation.

Still refusing to look at him she softly suggested, "You should go."

"Go?" he scoffed, his voice cracking. "How am I supposed to just go? There's so much that I don't understand. Really, you're making this decision when there's so much that you don't understand."

Addie's lips pursed; she didn't care to understand his reasonings behind falling in love with her sister. Making it clear she didn't want to discuss the matter anymore, she laid back down, pulling the duvet up to her chin. As she turned to face away from him she said, "All I need to understand is how I feel."

"Well, we're in this together. Or at least we were. Don't I deserve to know how you feel?" Damon pushed, trying not to sound overly confrontational.

Her bottom lip was pulled between her teeth. It wasn't exactly easy to explain that you had to break up with your boyfriend because you loved him too much. And she had done her best to accept Damon and judge him and she knew he appreciated that from her; how was she supposed to tell him that he was kind of a bad boyfriend? She never tried to assign labels of good or bad to him, either.

"Addie, if you're ending things with me I at least deserve to know why," he said more gently, moving to sit at the foot of her bed.

"Elena," she growled out through clenched teeth.

That was only half of the truth. He needed her to be completely honest with him. Maybe she had at least calmed down enough for him to be honest with her. Damon got up, walked around the bed and knelt in front of Addie. Her eyes were closed and cheeks dry but her lashes were damp. Addie could hear him breathing next to her but if she ignored him, maybe, just maybe he might go away.

"Addie," Damon sighed softly, brushing his fingers against her cheek, "I need you to let me say something and I need you to hear it."

Addie shrugged her shoulder to brush his hand off her. She grumbled harshly, "I don't want to hear anything you have to say."

"I know but you need to. You need to know the truth because not knowing the truth is hurting you. You are the single best thing that has ever happened to me. This, losing you because of a misunderstanding and because you refuse to talk to me, is going to kill me. I've already been dreading the thought that I will eventually have to live my life without you. To know it's going to happen so much sooner than I thought, I'm not ready for that," he lamented, wishing she would just look at him.

" _Not_ having this conversation and just giving us a clean break might make the whole grieving process easier on both of us," she muttered. She didn't want to hear sweet lies from him.

Damon rested his chin on the bed as he studied her. While the corners of her lips usually turned up as she relaxed, tonight there was a slight frown. "I will never forgive myself if I let you go without telling you these things. When you live forever, never last for a very long time. You need to know that I'm head over heel in love with you and only you. I will always be in love with you. I thought I knew love before I met you but it was only lust. Honestly, I'm glad I never fell in love before and I can see why you didn't believe in it," Damon reflected thoughtfully.

Addie's eyebrows furrowed and her frown deepened. "You wish you never loved me?"

"No! I mean, loving you is such an amazing experience that I wouldn't trade for anything," he quickly clarified. "I'm just glad I never fell in love with Katherine or El-"

"You do love Elena!" she snapped, her voice wavered and cracked.

"I don't want to love her but I do for the exact same reason I love Jeremy and Bonnie and even Caroline! I don't want to give a damn about any of them but I do. I need to care about these people. I need to make sure they're safe. I can't help loving these people because they are the people _you_ love. I only want you to be happy. That doesn't happen if there's a problem between you and the people you love, particularly if they are dead.

" _I love Elena because she is your sister._ I have absolutely no romantic feelings for her. Those are dead and gone. She holds no interest for me. I lusted after Elena for a short time because I was very, very confused. It felt like history was repeating itself and that was just what I was supposed to do. I know now that she was never right for me. And I never would have been happy with her. I love her and look out for her because if Elena dies, I know a part of you will too. I don't want to see that!" Damon explained, desperate to make her understand the truth.

Addie opened her eyes to find Damon looking directly into her. He looked so lost and…. Placing a hand on his cheek, his five o'clock shadow tickling her palm, she inquired, "Are you scared?"

Damon sighed, leaning into her touch. "I've never been so terrified."

"It's just us," she tried to reassure him, though she didn't exactly understand why he was so scared. It was unsettling to see her courageous dark knight looking so afraid.

"Well, we are everything to me and I'm watching us crumble into a million pieces," he replied with a wary smile, removing her hand from his face and interlocking their fingers.

"A million's a lot," whispered Addie, suddenly feeling uncomfortable under his piercing stare.

"I've done a lot of damage."

"Mhm."

Damon watched her spin the heavy daylight ring around his finger for several minutes. There was still a slight frown but her eyes were blank. Needing to know he murmured, "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that I _don't_ love Stefan," she said slowly, still beating around the bush.

He waited for her to elaborate but when it was clear that she wasn't he finished her train of thought, "And you don't understand how I can love everyone you love? Or you don't think that's how I love Elena?"

"I think," she resolved, the corners of her lips twitching towards a smile, "that you're a love slut."

Damon snorted, "A love slut? I've been accused of being a man-whore but what exactly is a love slut?"

"Don't worry; ninety-nine percent of the population is made up of love sluts. It's people who throw the word around without actually knowing what it means."

"Not all love is romantic. It's not all Sonnet 116," he shrugged.

"I know. Obviously there's the love that you have for your family but I'm pretty sure that's a biological thing where family bonds aid you in survival of the fittest and what not," conceded Addie.

"So, what is it that you feel for your friends?"

"Really strong feelings of gratitude and affection?"

He sighed dramatically and shook his head, "You really have a problem with that word, don't you?"

"I just think that it's said so much that it kinda loses all meaning. It should be reserved for when you really mean it or special moments or… I don't know. It's just said carelessly," she mumbled, tracing the D on his ring.

"Is that why you haven't said it to me since that first day?"

She nodded, "Pretty much."

Damon ran his free hand through his hair. He didn't understand why Addie wouldn't just be honest with him. "You don't think I really mean it each and every time I tell you?"

"I'm sure you do."

"Wow. _That_ sounds convincing," he muttered. He was so much more screwed than he thought. "You really don't know how much I love you?"

"Of course I do."

He shook his head, "I really don't think you do." Damon frowned as she pulled her hand from his and turned to her other side, facing away from him. His hands raked over his face as he sat on the edge of the bed. His patience was reaching its limits. "I can't do this. I can't read your mind. I can't lose you. I can't get you to beleive I love you. I can't fix this if you don't want me to. I can't do this if you're not going to be completely honest with me! I know I've been the shittiest boyfriend in the world but I can-"

"What did you just say?" Addie interrupted, rolling onto her back to look at him suspiciously.

"I can do better, I promise."

She shook her head slowly. "Before that?"

"I need you to be honest with me."

"After that."

Damon fingers ran through his hair as he exhaled loudly, "I've been the shittiest boyfriend."

Her eyes narrowed. She'd heard that before. _No_. She had dreamed that. It was her subconscious talking. Right? Of course. It was just a coincidence. Damon would _never_ invade her privacy like that. But it wouldn't have been the first boundary he'd crossed that night.

"What?" he asked warily as her her expression turned to ice.

"Leave," she snarled.

He sighed, looking at her helplessly, "Addie, le-"

"Get out now before I decide to never speak to you again!"

"No-"

"One more word and you no longer exist!" she yelled, pulling her cell phone out from under her pillow and throwing it at him.

Damon opened his mouth as he caught the phone but thought better of it. Her face had turned that burning shade of he usually only saw when she got embarrassed. There was also a steady stream of angry tears rolling down her cheeks. It was very likely she would carry through with her threat. Dropping the phone back on the bed, Damon left the room in despair, actually using the bedroom door for once.

Nothing he could recall felt more wrong than leaving her alone at this critical moment. She seemed so lost and afraid and furious. Addie's condition was unstable at best. The last time he had seen her so unhinged was the night that they met, so long ago.

She had been out running in the pouring rain because of some fight she had gotten into with Elena and Aunt Jenna over her mother; he had never asked for the specifics as it was still a touchy subject. Before she had even know what he was or what he did Addie had raged at him for being so selfish as to not care whether other people lived or died. In disbelief and disgust she'd asked if he'd really kill someone.

" _Mhm," he had smirked, propping one foot back against a tree as he leaned on it. "I'd even kill you. Right here. Right now."_

 _Her response had been clear, decisive, unquestionable. "Do it."_

" _If you're sure," he said, cool and arrogant. He pushed himself off the tree trunk with grace and stepped up in front of her. For some reason sucking the life out of her just didn't seem appealing. In hindsight, perhaps it was because he_ wanted _her to live, to change her mind. Her neck was small; his palm crushed from the front, his thumb from the right side of her neck, and his fingers splayed along the left as he worked to close his hand into a fist._

 _Addie had led him get a pretty good hold on her. Damon had briefly thought she was actually going to let him kill her. She had clawed at his hand a little when she finally needed to breathe but that was human nature; that wasn't someone changing their mind. When she used her elbow to break a rib, ripped his shoulder out of place and snapped his elbow, he knew she had come to her sense._

Then he had let her beat the hell out of his face; she seemed to feel a little better after that. Perhaps that would work again. Damon couldn't really picture Addie hitting him again, though. Although, he had never imagined her throwing something hard, like a cell phone, at him. Of course, it was possible she only did that because she knew he had the reflexes to keep it from hitting him. Addie wasn't very much of a physically aggressive person. She had scratched him pretty good that morning and made him bleed though.

Damon sighed as he leaned against the banister. Soft sobs could be heard from her room. He didn't know what to do but the ideal of leaving left him feeling ill.

 **Damon: Want to kick my ass again?**

When she didn't reply immediately he went down into the living room to grab the notepad and pen left by the phone. He returned upstairs and sat next to her door and began to write. Addie might not want to hear him but her curiosity was to great to ignore a letter. She replied about five minutes later.

 _Addie: If I thought you would learn anything from getting your ass kicked I would have already taken up Klaus on his offer to do so._

What the hell was she playing at by bringing Klaus into this? Was she trying to make him jealous?

 **Damon: I've learned my lesson.**

 _Addie: I honestly don't believe that. I don't trust you._

Damon laughed bitterly and dropped his head into his hands. He was beginning to think Addie hadn't trusted him since he broke up with her and she had just been looking for more and more reasons to validate ending things with him. Being the fool that he was, he just kept screwing up and giving her those reasons.

 **Damon: I know. But do you love me?**

 _Addie: I think you know the answer to that from your little foray into my mind! DICK!_

He wasn't exactly sure if he thought he wouldn't get caught invading her dreams if if he thought she just wouldn't be that mad about it. It seemed like a reasonable approach at the time.

 **Damon: I needed to know why you wouldn't talk to me and why you were so mad. That was the wrong way for me to go about finding out. I was just so terrified that if we didn't clear the air immediately, things would end. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have deceived you like that.**

 _Addie: And in the end things still have ended._

She was very mistaken if she truly believed he was going to give up that easy.

 **Damon: Do you want to trust me?**

 _Addie: I'm nowhere near ready to even start trying to do that._

 **Damon: But eventually?**

 _Addie: Yes. I would hate to lose your friendship._

Ugh. The "let's be friends" line. Damon used that five hundred times and never once meant it. He usually said it right before killing a girl, though. It was unlikely Addie was going to try and do that to him but he doubt she meant what she said. No one ever meant it.

 **Damon: We were good at one point. We were happy. You were happy. Right? How is it fair to YOUR happiness if you don't give us a chance to get back to that?**

When she didn't reply for seven minutes, he was pretty sure she was just ignoring him because he heard her crying a little harder. Damon gave up on hoping for a response and worked on perfecting his letter. No matter how hard he tried, the words never seemed to come out right. It would have to do. Everything that came out of his mouth was worse. By the time he had finished, some time had past since he had heard any noise from Addie. He considered going into her room, having one last look but it was possible she was still awake and he didn't want to go another round with her. Instead he slipped the several sheets of paper under her door.

* * *

The loud, repeated beeping of her alarm clock pulled Addie from the nightmare. The graphic imagines didn't disturb her so much, anymore; it was the sound of bones splintering and flesh ripping that had her making in cold sweats of terror. Disgusted at the her shut clinged to her back, Addie groaned as she blinded reached out to shut off the alarm. In the process of hitting the off button she managed to knock the clock off her nightstand. Addie decided to take that as a bad omen. Her day would only get worse if she left her bed. The most reasonable thing to do was to go back to sleep.

More annoying sounds woke Addie again; this time it was banging on her bathroom door. She wasn't exactly sure how much more she'd slept since the clock was on the floor. Pulling her pillow over her head she was able to block out some of the sounds and her sister barking orders for her to get up or else she'd be late for school. Being late sounded like a good idea; not going at all sounded like an even better one. She drifted back asleep again, blocking out the sounds of her sister getting ready.

Perhaps it was because she had spent half the night crying or it might have been that she had actually gotten too much restful sleep, free of nightmares but when Addie did decide to finally wake at nearly nine in the evening, she felt dreadfully tired. Returning to sleep was appealing but she did need to shower and brush her teeth. Just those two tedious tasks and she could curl back up under her covers. Robotically she got up and performed these before heading back to bed. It was then that she noticed a piece of paper on her floor by the door. Curious, as she definitely had not put it there, she went to check it out.

 _Addie,_

 _I had NO idea how you were feeling. You're the most important thing in the world to me and it kills me to know you don't feel that you are. This relationship thing, it's new for both of us. You have to allow room for error but more importantly, you have to give us a chance to fix what is broken. I never realized how doing so many of the things that I did for_ _you_ _might actually look like I did them for myself or your sister._

 _I don't understand how you can possibly believe I love Elena as anything more than a friend. You are right; she couldn't be more wrong for me. She_ _did_ _string me along and_ _did_ _make me think it was ok to be toyed with. Katherine had done it before. It was just an acceptable thing. Until you came along. You were such a slap in the face and yet a breath of fresh air. You_ _hated_ _me. I wasn't exactly fond of the smart little brat with the even smarter mouth who tried to kill me. (Here's where you scoff and remind me that you risked your life to pull me out of a burning building and I remind you that it was still your fault I was in the building in the first place.)_ _You_ _decided_ _I_ _was worth saving. I will never understand that. It wasn't exactly like we were friendly. And, I mean this with no offense, you don't seem like the type of person to have a sudden attack of consciousness. You hated who I was and what I did from the beginning. You don't change opinions on a whim, at least not usually. That's why I get really confused when you do. Sometimes I can read you like a book and other times you're the indecipherable riddle._

 _The is that you saved me; that meant you had to believe there was some good in me. You wouldn't save pure evil. You didn't expect good from me, though. You didn't expect me to change just because you saved me. It had been so long since anyone saw anything good in me that I had just accepted there wasn't. But you made me think it might just be possible that there was. When you sold your soul to the devil and agreed to work with Katherine, I decided to see if you were right. If I could help you outsmart Katherine and keep you safe, maybe you made the right decision when you saved me. You were a project, a test to see if there was a part of me that was good and selfless. Since '94 I've been saddled with a conscience and my behavior has been marginally better, but you were right, like always. I was a self-serving, narcissistic, serial killing sociopath. Although, I might have been born with a predisposition to kill people and I'm actually a psychopath. (Do you see how much of an influence you are on me? I'm getting off topic, just like you do.)_

 _I never expected you to become so much more. You were naive and foolish to make a pact with Katherine. At least that's what I thought. Then I began to see how strategic you were being and how courageous you had to be to deal with her. Addie, you handled her in a way I never could. She turned me into an idiot schoolboy but you matured each time you faced her. And the young woman you matured into was someone who I grew to care about in a way I never understood. I grew to worry about your wants and desires, hopes and dreams. It was odd to not only be thinking of myself._

 _I must have been a superhero in a previous life because I haven't banked enough good karma in this one to explain how you began to care about me. At first I questioned how serious you were about me. You were so flighty and terrified of commitment. You didn't even want to establish a relationship. Then we somehow ended up in a 15 year plan. (There you go being a riddle again.) There have times when I have believed we will make it to that mark. On rare occasions I wonder which one of us is going to just snap and kill the other. I'm sure you've worked out the exact chances of that happening. The one thing I know for sure is that I'm not giving hope on us until our deal expires. Addie, you are the only person who has ever picked me, accepted me just as I am. For some reason you actually_ _love_ _me. I won't pretend to understand why you do but I know how special you make me feel. If you just felt an iota of how cherished I feel…. I_ _know_ _it must be soul crushing not to feel like you're the light of my life because that's how I'd feel. You are, though. I am a horrible person for not making you aware of just how much you mean to me._

 _Let's face fact. I'm basically 170 with an over inflated sense of myself and I have spent most of my life not giving a damn about anyone but myself. You're only 16 with an under inflated sense of sense and you have no idea how amazing and wonderful and beautiful and perfect you are. You've spent your whole life caring so much about your family and friends only to lose those closest to you. I'm trying to learn how to show you just how much I value you but you're so afraid of getting hurt that you see warning signs that you're going to get hurt or going to lose me when there are none and you are ready to run at every little bump._

 _I will_ _always_ _love you. You are the single most important thing in my life. There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you. That being said, it seems that everytime I try to make things better, I'm only making them worse. I keep thinking if I hold onto you tighter, somehow I might not lose you. Obviously that's not working. If you love something very much, you've got to go easy with it - give it room to move around. If you hold it too tight, it'll always try to get away. I feel like you're always trying to break free from something; I just can't tell what. Perhaps it's me you're trying to break away from._

 _I know giving you space in the past hasn't seemed to work, but we so far we've always ended up back together. This time I've screwed up worse than ever. So perhaps I need to listen to you and go away. If you love someone, let them go. If they come back, they're yours; if they don't, they never were. I've never treasured anything more than our relationship. I'm not giving up hope but I am letting you go. What happens next it up to you, Ads. I don't want you to feel pressured about this so I'm just going to take a step back and let you figure it out. If this were to continue, my next move would be making you feel like my special one and only again. What's your move?_

 _You are my once in a lifetime, my happily ever after, my sun, moon, and stars, my life, my love, my Ads._

 _All my love,_

 _Damon_

Addie set the note on her nightstand before curling back up under her blankets. Who knew Damon Salvatore wrote love letters? Or was it a break up letter? Hadn't she ended things with him first? But the letter was a confirmation of him giving up on them; he was _letting her go_. She hadn't expected him to give up so easily. But of course he would; he was interested in Elena. Maybe he wasn't _really_ interested in her sister but he didn't seem that interested in carrying things on with her.

There were parts of his letter that were intriguing, though. Addie never pretended to understand how their relationship came to be and she had definitely never understood it from Damon's perspective. It was sad that it only took someone seeing the good inside of him to catch his interest. _Or_ he seemed to take interest in girls who wanted to toy with him, i.e. Elena and Katherine. It didn't bother Addie that she had started out as some personal test to Damon; he had been a test on her tolerance and acceptance for people. He pushed her to her limits on compassion and understanding and succeeded on expanding them. If she had helped remind him of how caring he could be, then that was ok. It was definitely selfish but she really wished he hadn't grown to care about people besides herself and Stefan as much as he had.

Addie groaned as someone began knocking on her bathroom door for the second time that day. _Think of the devil and she will come_. Turning away from the door she grumbled loud enough for her sister to hear, "Go away."

"We have to talk," Elena declared, loudly entering the room.

Mentally Addie reprimanded herself for forgetting to lock the door. " _We,_ " she stressed, "have nothing to discuss."

Elena scoffed haughtily as her hands went to her hips, "Do you even know what's been going down all day?"

"I've been home sick and have been sleeping in hopes of a speedy recovery," Addie muttered, not in the mood for a lecture on skipping school. Dealing with Damon was taxing; sometimes she just needed a mental health day.

"First of all, Meredith Fell _shot_ Alaric last night. Right now Sheriff Forbes has him locked up for some bogus case as the mystery murder that Meredith put together against him. Damon's being a dick and won't do anything about it. I confronted Meredith about it and she started saying all this horrible stuff about Alaric to try and convince me that he is capable of murder. She's the murderer! Matt and I broke into her house to prove that she's setting Alaric up. She has everything on Alaric: medical records, old court documents. She even had an old Gilbert Journal. And we found proof that she's lying but Sheriff Forbes won't listen!" Elena exclaimed, throwing her hands up in exasperation.

"What did she say to try and convince you that he's a murderer?" Addie wondered aloud. The idea hadn't come to her before but she supposed it wasn't out of the realm of possibility. After Damon had taunted Alaric about turning Isobel, Alaric had punctured Addie's lung. If Damon hadn't swiftly snapped the other man's neck and fed Addie his blood Alaric _would_ have murdered her. It was all a matter of semantics. It was ironic; Damon kept Alaric from being a murderer.

Elena rolled her eyes as she shook her head. Her sister could be so weird. Out of all the important stuff she had just said, Addie wanted to know more about the thing that meant the least. Knowing her sister would just keep pestering until she answered, Elena repeated, "He was arrested for fighting four times before the age of 21. When he was at Duke Isobel filed a restraining order against him twice. And that he's a borderline alcoholic vampire hunter."

"You know, how come we don't consider him a murderer for killing random vampires or Klaus but we definitely would consider him a murderer if he killed Damon or Stefan?" mused Addie. Logic and reasoning shouldn't be subjective. A murderer was a murderer and Alaric was one.

"Damon and Stefan are _good_. Are you seriously asking this?" Elena huffed in disbelief.

There was the argument that he was defending Dr. Fell's honor when he killed the ex-boyfriend who called her psycho. Addie couldn't figure out a motive for Bill Forbes but he _had_ been killed by a knife from Alaric's collection. Carving himself up like a Thanksgiving turkey didn't make much sense but if they counted the vampires he killed, he'd already reached serial killer status and their actions didn't always make a whole lot of sense.

Reading the doubt in her little sister's face Elena informed her, "The county coroner's office listed Bryan Walter's time of death while Alaric was still at the Founder's Party. He has an alibi! Meredith is the one who signed Bryan Walter's death certificate and put time of death after the party. She's setting him up!"

"So take your evidence to the police," Addie shrugged. The mystery murderer was a complex problem that she didn't fancy riddling. Meredith. Alaric. The ice cream man. In all reality they were dumb kids trying to play Scooby-Doo. Didn't they have enough magical problems to solve? These were non-magical murders. Sure, they were happening to council members but they were still _natural_ attacks, making it a problem for normal law enforcement.

Elena stopped pacing and leaned against Addie dresser as she crossed her arms in a pout. "Apparently she can't use that as evidence because Meredith caught Matt and I breaking into her apartment."

Addie snorted, holding back laughter, "Of course you would get caught. Look, I'm sure it will all work out the way it's supposed to."

"You think he's guilty?" her sister snapped.

"I think it's not my job to figure that out."

"You are almost as unhelpful as Damon! When I suggested he do something his solution was to rip out Meredith's tongue and feed it to squirrels," scowled Elena.

"That's Damon's idea of humor," Addie pointed out bitterly. Elena didn't understand him on so many levels; it was so annoying. "If he thought him getting involved would help Alaric out, he would."

Elena frowned at the ground, her eyebrows knitting together in thought. "It's not just Alaric. It's like he's trying to cause trouble. Like tonight when Matt and I were coming home we ran into Damon and Stefan and this girl. Damon was healing her but it was obvious that Stefan had been feeding on her; he had this crazed, dazed look in his eye. Damon sail it was 'just a little experiment' and there was no need to make it more dramatic than it had to be."

Addie's lips pursed thoughtfully. Damon had a habit of having extreme reactions to change, both good and bad. Would breaking up after nearly eight months of dating be enough to provoke a reaction? Very likely. Although, Addie didn't exactly see what Damon got out of turning Stefan's ripper mode back on. He had apparently been off of human blood since he almost drove Elena off the bridge.

"I don't know what he's up to with Stefan but he would never do anything to hurt Stefan," Addie said honestly. Slightly bothered, she curtly questioned, "Why are you so concerned about Damon's behavior?"

"I don't know," Elena said quietly, shoving her hands into her back pockets.

Mustering up her courage, Addie boldly said, "Well, I think you should do everyone a favor and stop being so concerned with him."

"Do you think he would try and get Stefan to be a ripper again to come between Stefan and me?"

Addie couldn't resist rolling her eyes at her sister's self-centeredness. "I don't think Damon would let a girl come between him and Stefan again. Why? Do you want him to be jealous like that?"

"Obviously not like _that_. I don't want him playing on Stefan's weaknesses," Elena admitted.

"But you want him to be jealous," Addie stated, since Elena wasn't going to give her a direct answer.

Elena shrugged slightly, "Damon just sort of snuck up on me. We snuck up on each other."

Had Damon lied to her? Had something actually happened between him and Elena? Slowly she asked, "How do you know he feels the same?"

"He told me the other night at the ball. He got upset and it just kind of slipped out. I don't think he meant for it to," Elena confessed softly.

Had Elena _misheard_ Damon in the exact same way Addie had? That seemed like a lot of misinterpretation. Unable to think of anything to say, Addie just nodded slowly. It was one thing to hear from other people that Elena might have feelings for Damon and to speculate that might be true but it was another thing entirely to hear Elena admit to it.

"I'm sorry, Addie, really. I _know_ you dated him but he just... he got under my skin and no matter what I do I just can't shake him," her sister explained helplessly. Defensively Elena added, "Plus, what you did wasn't very sisterly; you knew I liked him first."

Addie scoffed and rolled her eyes despite the ache in her chest. "We've never been _sisterly_ ," she spat. "I think you wanting Damon proves that. Elena, you didn't have real feelings for him like I do. You _liked_ him because he would do whatever the hell you wanted and he only did that because he was still in love with Katherine and you're her fucking carbon copy, right down to the part where you used him. Damon was and is a toy to you. I actually love him."

Elena's eyes narrowed into tiny slits as she glared at the younger girl and hissed, "I've never used him. Our feelings are real. If you hadn't left Damon here alone all summer you would probably still have him."

"I never said I wanted him!" Addie quipped back as Elena spun on her heel and left the room.

* * *

It was Friday before Addie looked over Damon's letter again and reflected on the things that were said. Perhaps he was serious about letting her go; he hadn't contacted her since the letter. She wasn't sure if he had talked to Elena but judging by the fact that Alaric was still in jail, that meant Damon hadn't intervened and she was probably choosing not to speak to him over that. Addie was mildly pleased that there at least wasn't any communication going on there, either.

It was possible that she was being a little hasty in her decision making and overreacting. Looking back on the words in his letter she knew he was right; she was always looking to see if Damon was going to hurt her again or if she was going to lose him. She didn't want to lose him in a repeat of their summer breakup; he'd broken up with her just because he had done something she didn't like. He had made a mistake in drugging her; his intentions had been to keep her safe. Really, she hadn't even been mad about the drugging it was the comment about not having time to deal with her that she had gotten so upset over. Maybe Damon did spend more time with Elena than Addie liked but there was never a time he hadn't been immediately available for however long Addie wanted him. He never picked Elena over her. She could see how all his choices, in his opinion, were in her best interest.

Perhaps she was just making excuses for him because she missed him. Perhaps it was because she was afraid of losing him. Perhaps she was simply jealous over the idea of Damon being with anyone else. Perhaps she was afraid of Elena hurting him. Perhaps it was that even though Damon hadn't been the world's greatest boyfriend, she hadn't been the best girlfriend. Addie couldn't give a solid explanation as to why she was knocking on the door to boarding house Friday evening. She had to try several times and wait several minutes for someone to answer. Stefan finally did just as she started to contemplate using her key.

"Addie," he greeted flatly, brushing sweat soaked hair out of his face. The white tank he wore clung to his skin and his breathing was heaving.

"Working out those cravings?" she smirked, ducking under his arm and sliding past him into the house.

"You shouldn't be here."

Addie waved her hand dismissively and replied nonchalantly, "Relax. You've tried ripping my throat out. Remember that horrible feeling you get in _your_ throat? I'm probably the safest human for you to be around."

"My temper is a bit edgy. I could get a sudden desire to kill you," Stefan countered, drinking straight from the crystal decanter on top of the alcohol cabinet next to the couch.

She shrugged, unfazed. "I alway liked edgier Stefan better than Saint Stefan. Edgier Stefan sans humanity issues is cool. Your problem is that you're walking on a moral plane a mile high or a mile below. You need some balance. A little yin, a little yang."

"Did you just come over to give me life advice?" he asked, abruptly cutting her off.

Her eyes narrowed as she wagged an accusatory finger at him and teased, "You caught me. You're smart. I'm looking for your brother."

 _Knock. Knock. Knock._

Addie raised her eyebrows at Stefan, who stared at the door, his head slightly tilted. "Expecting company?"

"Only person I thought might possibly come over is already here. And whoever is on the other side of that door isn't human," he slowly answered.

"How do-"

"I can smell them."

Addie nodded slowly. "Of course. My nose is my peephole, too. So, werewolf, vampire, witch, hybrid, ghost, or none of the above?"

He frowned, "Vampire."

"Old or new?"

"New to you," Stefan muttered as he moved warily to the door, "but a blast from Damon's past." Stefan fully opened the door so that Addie could see the beautiful, tall woman with bright red hair landing around her shoulders. "Hello, Sage."

"Stefan, pleasure to see you again," she smiled politely. "Your brother to - oof!" she gasped in surprised when she hit an invisible wall trying to cross the threshold.

Stefan chuckled as he recalled, "Ah, that's right; last time you were here Zachariah had died and the house hadn't been passed on yet. You need an invitation to get in now."

"Convenient," she frowned.

Stefan shrugged, a humorous smile tugging at his lips. "It was Damon's idea."

The woman, Sage, raised a disbelieving eyebrow at him, "Damon vampire proofed a house?"

"He has a nasty little habit of generating a lot of enemies that want revenge," Addie contributed frostily, as she leaned against the entrance to the living room.

Sage quickly looked Addie over before her attention returned to Stefan. "Hiding from a fight doesn't sound like Damon."

Stefan laughed, "Damon does a lot of things that don't sound like him. He signed over the house to the girl he was dating to protect her."

"Your brother said you were doing a blood cleanse. I'm guessing it gives you a bad sense of humor. Damon doesn't date. And he definitely doesn't protect."

"That's what I said."

"Well, my brother is a love struck, pathetic idiot when it comes to this girl," Stefan said, sighing as if Damon were a lost cause.

"Is he as uptight and boring as he was when he was in love with Katherine?" the woman snickered.

Stefan contemplated this before concluding, "He's a bit more unhinged which makes his mood swings more volatile. Their relationship is hardly predictable so from an outsider's perspective, it's not that boring."

"Hey!" Addie exclaimed indignantly.

"You like edgier me," Stefan reminded, fluttering his eyelashes at her flirtatiously.

"Wait. _Damon_ is dating _you_?" Sage asked slowly.

"They were dating but then Klaus the Original, who is actually not a legend, came between them."

"He did not! Will you just shut up?" scowled Addie.

Stefan jerked a thumb over his shoulder at Addie and rolled his eyes dramatically. " _Fine,_ " he yielded, "Damon _doesn't_ have massive jealousy issues over Klaus. And Addie definitely doesn't have colossal jealousy issues over her sister so she definitely did not freak out when Damon told Elena, her sister, my ex-girlfriend, and Katherine's doppelganger, that he loved her."

Addie buried her face in her hands as she mumbled, "There is no expectation of privacy with siblings."

Sage looked over Addie again before boredly replying, "That sounds like a lot of… drama. Damon's not the type to do drama."

Addie bit her tongue to keep from retorting. Clearly they knew two very different Damon's. The Damon she knew was a one man show.

"So, you gonna invite me in, kid?" the woman asked confidently, tucking her hands into her peacoat.

 _No._ A 'blast from Damon's past' was definitely code for one of his ex-no-strings-attached-sex partner. As confident as she was in his love for her, Addie didn't like the idea of past temptations appealing to Damon, a reminder of no drama and of sex, vampire sex, at that. She especially didn't want Damon around Sage during the weird breakup period they were experiencing. Then she really would be the insecure girlfriend with jealousy issues; she already felt crazy being jealous over Elena.

Addie turned to Stefan for help. "Would Damon want me to?"

"Uh…," Stefan wasn't quite sure what his brother would do. He knew Damon was fond of Sage but he also knew her temperament. "Well, as long as Sage understood Damon would kill everyone she ever cared about and her if she hurt you I think he would be ok with it. And since he's not here right now, playing mediator falls to me and, well, my humanity is all fucked up so I am more than capable of killing you right now, it would be my job to do that if you hurt Addie," he warned the older vampire, his smile never faltering.

"You know, I'm a proponent of you going back on the bunny diet if you're going to start treating me as helpless and defenseless as Damon does. Where is Damon?"

He laughed bitterly, "That's a, that's a good question. He pushes and pushes and _pushes_ for me to feed, so he can help me learn to control it. By the next morning he's pulled a classic Damon. He's gone. Damon left. I can't reach him and he doesn't want to be reached."

Addie frowned. "That doesn't make any sense. How do you know he's left?"

"You mean how do I know my brother after almost 170 years? It's what he does, Addie. When things get tough or don't go his way, he causes damage and leaves a mess in his wake," Stefan snapped harshly.

"Alright," Addie said placatingly; she wasn't going to argue with a blood jonesing vampire. "Do you know where he went?"

Stefan sighed as he pushed his sweaty hair out of his face again, "Not for sure. Headlines suggest New York. Wouldn't be the first time he's gone there."

"You're welcome to go in," Addie grumbled as she stormed past Sage.

* * *

 _Body Found Behind Whitney Art Museum… Two Dead on 13th and Washington… Triple Homicide at Dance Club… Seven Murders This Week in Meatpacking District! Serial Killer?_

There were variants from story to story, news source to news source but it was essentially the same four articles Addie continued to read as she combed through news on New York City for the past week. On Tuesday an unidentifiable, presumably homeless man died from massive blood loss at was found at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Police believe he was killed at another location due to no blood at the scene. On Wednesday a middle aged couple were the targets of a 'random murder' as there were no signs of assault and no evidence of robbery. Cause of death was not being released however people in the vicinity report hearing no sounds of gunfire or a struggle. When the number one dance club in the city, The Top of the Standard was being cleaned early Thursday morning workers found two patrons and an employee in the coat check area. The immediate cause of death was reported as unknown. A 19 year-old NYU student didn't report to classes on Friday. A less traditional source reported that she had been found in a subway station drained of blood.

It was all highly circumstantial. There was no proof that the murders were committed by a vampire. There was no proof that Damon was even in New York. Besides, that just wasn't Damon's style. The only reason people knew he was killing people when he first came to Mystic Falls was because he wasn't trying to blend in. He only slipped up and made the news when he killed that young woman the night Rose died and he decided to have an existential crisis. Though, it was possible that Damon wasn't trying to blend in while in New York City. Maybe he was just there to cause pain and destruction. It was quite unlikely that he was actually in New York. That was just Stefan's idea.

Unable to continue looking at blonde coed smiling up at her Addie shut her laptop as she reluctantly called Damon. She had to know.

"Hey," greeted his familiar voice softly on the fourth ring.

Addie hesitated as she strained to hear any background noise, the sounds of a club or horns and traffic, but there was nothing. Giving up she said, "I met your friend Sage."

Odd. Sage had _not_ mentioned her plan to visit Mystic Falls when he had run into his first night in the city. That was a meeting that had the potential for disaster. "She try anything?"

"Why would you ask that? Actually, why did Stefan threaten to kill her on your behalf if she did?" Addie demanded, suddenly annoyed.

"It's just her views on humans and what they're useful for," he answered evasively.

"Really? Because according to her, you two seem to be on the pretty same wavelength," she snipped.

Damon ran his hand through his hair as he eyed the unconscious brunette on the hotel bed. "Sage's way is…"

"Easy? Uncomplicated? What you prefer?" suggested Addie.

"It's definitely easier and less complicated. As to it being what I prefer? I don't think it is. It's what I _know_. It's what I'm comfortable and familiar with," he muttered, knowing he was trying to explain away his actions to himself.

Not caring if she sounded petty or jealous she stated, "I don't like her."

"Well, no, of course you don't. I don't think I'd like you if you liked her. Sage _literally_ uses a person then throws them away," Damon grumbled as he wondered how he was going to throw away the limp coed in his bed. Bringing her back to the hotel had been a bad judgment call but he had been more than a little drunk and she'd been more than a little eager to listen.

"Like you?" Addie said quietly.

He cleared his throat uncomfortably. "I think you know I'm not doing that to you."

"What _are_ you doing with me? What do you mean you're letting go of me?" she demanded, suddenly distracted from her original reason for calling.

"I'm giving you some space. You're the one who kept telling me to leave, Addie. I did some things I shouldn't have and I get why you were upset so I'm not going to push my way back into your life. We ended up like this because I kept pushing."

"So, you left."

Damon's lips pursed; he wasn't going to let her twist this around and make him feel guilty. "No. You told me to go away so I did."

"Uh-huh," Addie hummed, not quite convinced by his reasoning. "How far away have you gone?"

"Nowhere I can't get back from in an emergency."

"How quick?"

"Eight hours, give or take."

Her eyes slipped closed as she pinched the bridge of her nose, lying back on her bed. She didn't want the truth but she had to know. "New York City is about eight hours away, especially the way you drive."

"Yep," Damon agreed as he looked over the balcony on the 54th floor. He could just toss the girl over the edge. It was so much messier than he liked but people tended to ask questions if you carried a body through a hotel. It would be easier to erase the security footage of the last six hours than to compel everyone he came in contact with. It was a shame; the girl was pretty. "A lot of places are eight hours away."

"Those places don't have headlines with increasing body counts," Addie mumbled.

"Well, those places don't have over 8 million people in less than 305 square miles. So many people packed like sardines and you're bound to have a few people go nuts every day."

Addie groaned loudly, he was going to keep dancing around the issue. She hated when their conversations had to be direct. "Are you responsible for those headlines?"

"No," he answered quickly and definitively. "I may be narcissistic but I don't write news articles about myself."

"You know that's not what I meant. Are you the one… killing?"

"Oh. You mean, am I being a vampire, a predatory species that lives on human blood? I think you choose to forget that little part a lot of the time," he snapped. He didn't know why he was frustrated with her. It was always his decision to use blood bags or not. He'd made a conscious decision not to take blood bags when he left Mystic Falls. He could have stopped at a hospital or a blood bank if he wanted to.

Addie scoffed humorlessly, "You don't think I've accepted who and what you are, Damon? If I chose to forget you were a predatory vampire, why was my first response to call and see if you were ok when I heard that you were making headlines again? I didn't feel angry at you for leaving or for even murdering innocent people. I was scared and concerned about you."

"That's just it, Addie. You think there's something _wrong_ when I act like a vampire. You never consider that it's just me being me. It's who I've been and what I've done for 146 years. I've actually enjoyed it for nearly the last hundred."

"So why not do it all the time if you enjoy it?" she challenged, certain he was just trying to deny being angry or upset.

Damon snorted, "Yeah, that will go over well with the Founder's Council. It's a simple matter of survival."

"And so you only do it when you slip up and lose control! Otherwise you're not stupid enough to risk getting yourself caught and killed."

"Interesting theory but, like I said, there's over 8 million people in NYC and there's no suspect in the killings. I-"

"They suspect a serial killer! It doesn't take much for a person to figure out who's new to the neighborhood since the murders. And with the manner of death, it's not hard to figure out a vampire did them. It's not long before someone puts together that's it you, Damon," Addie interrupted him animatedly.

"Thank you for your concern but I managed to tear this town apart for the better part of twenty years with no problems," he replied casually.

Calmer, quieter, she added, "I don't want you to be gone that long."

His heart beat faster and there was a weird tugging in his stomach at that simple admittance. "I won't be gone that long."

"How long will you be gone?"

"Until you tell me to come back," Damon sighed.

"Now?" Addie asked hopefully.

He ran his fingers through his hair and hesitated, "Not yet. You're still upset with me."

She bit her lip, wishing she could tell him he was wrong.

"You want me back in Mystic Falls so I'll stop killing people."

"Sorry if I'm not a fan of you slaughtering innocent people. Just because I accept the fact that you do it doesn't mean I have to support it," she curtly retorted.

"I know, so I'll offer you a deal. I'll stop slaughtering the innocent if you promise to stay away from Sage and Ric," Damon proposed.

Her eyebrows arched in surprise. "Alaric?"

Damon kicked at the dead girl's foot as it dangled off the edge of the bed. He hadn't noticed she was wearing black Converse. Addie would have worn purple Converse to match the purple top. "Yeah, I'm not convinced he isn't the one running around killing people. I only left because he's locked in a cell. I want you to call me the minute he's released. He's already almost killed you once. I don't want him finishing the job this time."

"Wouldn't he have already killed me if he wanted to? I mean, I live with him. I'm pretty much a defenseless victim if he wanted to pick the lock to my room one night," Addie countered.

"I'm not convinced it's something he has any control over, either. This isn't the first time council members have been serially attacked. Stefan and I are trying to connect the two experiences. Until we figure it out or can 100% rule Alaric out, like someone is murder while he's in jail, I want you to stay away from him," he explained patiently.

"Overprotective nutcase," she mumbled, a slight smile tugging at her lips. "I'll stay away from Sage and Alaric."

"And I'll stop killing people." Nothing wrong with snatching, eating, and erasing, though. "But I do have to get rid of one more body."

" _Damon!_ "

"It's not like I killed her while I was talking to you. I did that before picking up; that's why I almost missed your call."

She let out a groan of despair. "You really do know how to make yourself attractive to a girl."

He scoffed, "You're just impossible to impress. Luckily that's not my problem anymore."

"What if I still want it to be your problem?" she asked after a long silence.

Damon sighed as he ran his hand through his hair. He definitely didn't want to push her away but he didn't want to cloud her judgement. Slowly he answered, "I think you told me Sunday night/Monday morning that you didn't want it to be my problem. I think you're confused about what you really want. I'm not letting you go for a few days, Addie. I'm letting you go long enough for you to really look at this and consider it from all angles and decide what you really want because I can't do the indecisive 'I want you, I don't' thing. So, once you've really thought about this we can revisit this topic of conversation."

"You make 'no' sound so pretty," Addie grumbled.

"Well, one of us has to be pretty and, love, desperate and needy definitely doesn't work on you," Damon sassed.

Addie gasped, scandalized and appalled, "I am not!"

"No," he chuckled, "but you are confused. If I was with you I'd feel like I was taking advantage of you."

Addie huffed, "Hmph! I hate it when you're right and try to be noble."

Damon snickered, "And you hate it when I'm immoral and kill people. You live in a perpetual state of confusion and contradictions. We can't figure much out until you sort that out. Now, I have to go take care of a body."

How she could be in love with this man who so casually talked about disposing of someone he just killed? Why was it so easy to excuse his behavior as it being the only way he was capable of handling his emotions? Why did she still want him when he clearly didn't feel the same way?

"Goodnight, Damon."

"Goodnight, Ads." He bit his lip to keep from adding that he loved her. Only with Addie's twisted logic would telling someone you loved them more often mean less to them. He was going to have to fight his instinct if he wanted to prove to her how he felt.

But for now they'd each take some space to figure out what came next.

* * *

 **A/N: Guys, come on! Of course Damon is in love with Addie, not Elena. He's crazy about his Ads. Which is why he's kind of starting to lose when he hears she wants to end it. Just a little bit. For now. We all know Damon's potential for destruction when he's hurting. And I promise there's no need to hate on Elena. Next chapter we see Damon come back to town and we have some fun with Klaus.**

 **You guys are the most amazing readers ever! Thank you so, so, so, so, so much for your comments! Did you know that if you do a Google search for 'hostage con' this story comes up? You guys have made this story reach Google status. I am completely beyond flattered. Your comments and reads mean the world to me!**


	22. Chapter 21

1\. _He keeps the nightmares away._

2\. _I'm definitely not just interested in him because my sister is._ Being interested in the same guy as Elena actually makes me question my sanity.

3\. I know nothing about who he was before Katherine. _I don't really ask him about that time period._ He doesn't make that topic very approachable.

4\. _He's completely honest about his past as a vampire,_ as far as I know. _I can't imagine him hiding or embellishing any of the awful things he's done._

5\. Overall, he's not what would be considered a good person.

6\. _He treats ME really well. And when he doesn't, it's usually as a side effect of him thinking he's doing right by me._

7\. _I love him._

8\. I love him.

9\. _I miss him. It's only been a week since I talked to him and I miss him. I want him to come home._

10\. _Home is wherever Damon is. Even if I doubt his feelings, being with him makes me feel at peace._

11\. I feel like I need him to be happy. I don't. Or do. Either way, bad feeling.

12\. _He makes me smile even when I don't want to._

13\. _I feel safe and protected with him._

 _14._ _He gives an excellent massage_

15\. Control issues, enough said.

16\. Jealous over Klaus? Is this simply a possible manifestation of obsessive tendencies?

17\. _It doesn't hurt that he's really nice to look at…._

18\. _He can be really sweet when he wants to be. I like that he's not always sweet; that would get annoying._

19\. _What matters to me matters to him._

20\. He's pushy, bossy and stubborn. _And he puts up with the fact that I am the exact same way._

21\. _His lopsided, crooked grin when he thinks he's being cute and charming._

22\. _The 1000 watt smile that lights up his entire face that nobody else gets to see because it only happens when his guard is down._

23\. His obsession with my eating habits

24\. _The way he makes pancakes with whipped cream smiles and strawberry fangs. We both know I'm just going to end up feeding him the fruit._

25\. _He pouts in his sleep._ He also turns into saran wrap. _Rather than get hot, he actually helps keep me cool at night._

26\. _It's rare but I like when he finally relaxes and isn't so tense. His eyes are brighter and there's a small smile on his face._

27\. _He runs his hand through his hair when he gets uncomfortable, a little habit he picked up from me. He hates that he does; that just makes it all the more attractive._

28\. _It drives him crazy when I mess up his hair but he's usually a good sport about it._

29\. _It wouldn't seem like it but Damon can take a joke._

30\. _He makes me laugh on my darkest days._

31\. He has a very poor concept of boundaries and personal space, _If he knew what was appropriate, we probably would never have ended up together._

32\. He's very mercurial. _We both are._

33\. He's a narcissistic, serial killing sociopath. That should probably be listed as three things.

34\. _He's committed and passionate about his decisions._

35\. _I WANT TO BE WITH HIM._

Addie bit the end of her pen as she skimmed over her list a final time; she had written out key features of Damon, underlining the ones that should keep her from being with him. It wasn't exactly a pros and cons list but it was supposed to help make her decision easier. Frustrated, Addie crumpled the paper up and threw it into her wastebasket. None of it mattered if Damon was going to make her decision for her. He told her she need more time to think about them and if they were what she really wanted; how much time was he going to make her take? So much time until she simply decided she didn't want him for once and for all? Her fingers tapped impatiently at her desk.

Had she'd done 'yes/no, we are/we aren't' that much? So much that he was putting their relationship on hold until she could give him a definitive answer? Hadn't she promised not to break up with him for practically 15 years unless he cheated on her or drugged her? Wasn't that good enough? In that time wasn't she allowed a few moments of doubt and hesitation if she was still committed for the long haul? She could barely commit to a hair color for more than a few months at a time. Every time she looked in the mirror she wondered if going from blue to ruby red had been a mistake. Was she just supposed to be with Damon and never voice her bouts of doubt? That didn't seem fair to either of them. Addie knew she loved him and she wanted a chance to get back to where everything had felt perfect between them. That perfect feeling wasn't going to last, though. It just wasn't who Damon and her were. Loud rapping on her bedroom door startled Addie out of her thoughts.

"Downstairs, Addie! Time for some dysfunctional quasi-family bonding," called Alaric, his voice becoming fainter as he moved away.

Troubled by his voice Addie bit at her lip. Exactly when had he been released from jail? _Why_ had they let him go? Was there enough reasonable evidence to conclude he was innocent or simply not enough to keep holding him for murder? And why hadn't anyone told her? Maybe that's what Elena had wanted to bother her with last night? Addie couldn't be certain; Elena had just been so much of an attention whore, drama queen - ok, perhaps that was a bit of exaggeration but still, Addie had fallen back into her old habit of managing to completely tune out every word her sister said. Addie picked up enough keywords, like 'magic ring,' 'Gilbert journal,' and 'insane', to know she had no desire to discuss the topic. Perhaps she actually had missed something important.

Sheer curiousity sent Addie to join Dr. Fell, Alaric and Elena in the kitchen. There was general discussion about what Alaric had missed at school and the restoration of Wickery Bridge as takeout containers of Chinese food were passed around. The group quickly lost Addie's interest as she became more focused on eating around the vegetables in her fried rice. For added entertainment she used only chopsticks.

"As Damon said, the world can't stop turning just because my alter ego is a psycho killer," Alaric said after some time with a weary smile.

"When did Damon say that?" Addie demanded, tuning back into the conversation at the sound of the vampire's name.

"This morning when we went to go see the reconstruction that they are doing on Wickery Bridge."

He seriously hadn't told her he was back? She scoffed in disbelief, "How long has he been back?"

Alaric shrugged, uncertain. "This morning, I guess. He showed up at the hospital while we were doing MRI's of my head."

"I'm sure that was fascinating," Addie muttered with only a slight trace of sarcasm. Not the least bit interested by the old journal or medical photos that had replaced plates and takeout food Addie got up. "If you'll excuse me. I think I'm done with dysfunctional family fun time. It's not all that enjoyable when my sister thinks herself in love with the guy I fancy and my… well, whatever roll Alaric plays, is a maniac killer."

"Where do you think you're going?" Elena snapped bossily.

As she unlocked the front door Addie threw up her hand as if displaying the number two. "Somewhere that isn't here. Peace out."

It definitely wasn't one of her better exits but she was too distracted to focus on being dramatic. Why hadn't Damon told her he was back in town? Was he going to be mad that he somehow found out before her that Alaric was out of jail? Was he going to be mad that she didn't call him as soon as she knew that Alaric was out of jail? Did she really believe Alaric was killing people? It was hard to argue with. Meredith and Elena and Alaric had all been talking about this happening before and something about the Gilbert ring and blackouts. More supernatural crap. Although, Addie supposed that if there was an "other side" that whenever Alaric would "die" he would have to go there and then find his way back. There was no telling what happened to him while he was over there. Again, nothing but speculation and nothing she had control over.

Addie's thumbs tapped in an alternating, anxious pattern against her steering wheel as she rolled into the driveway of the boarding house. Interesting. There was a black Honda Civic she had never seen before parked there. Perhaps she should call Damon. Then again he probably would have a harder time being mean to her face. She wasn't exactly sure why she was nervous; it wasn't exactly like she was going to approach the topic of them. Still, butterflies beat in her stomach as she knocked on the door.

Her hand had barely made contact with the door once when it was quickly opened by Damon, his hair and chest dripping water and an ivory towel wrapped around his waist as if he had just stepped out of the shower. He raised a single finger to his lips and tugged at an ear before pointing upstairs. Addie frowned but nodded. She wasn't great at charades but she understood that he didn't want to be overheard. There was an eager, frantic look dancing in his sky blue eyes as he motioned for her to follow him.

Staying a few steps behind, Addie warily went with Damon into the study. Something was off. Something was wrong. Why hadn't he let her know he was back in town? Stranger yet, if he thought Alaric was some psycho killer and knew he was out, why wasn't Damon acting like an overprotective, zealous, yet somehow loveable nutcase? Who did he not want to overhear them talking? And why had he apparently felt the need to rush out of the shower to rifle through a bookcase, not even taking the time to partially dry himself off?

He deftly selected a red bound tome and flipped through it. His finger interrupted the flipping pages towards the back of the book. As his eyes scanned the paper, his lips slowly twisted into a wicked smile. Damon looked up at Addie and his eyebrow arched in an arrogant, superior, confident motion. Addie rolled her eyes in response; if he had stopped showering just to prove himself right about something, that was simply pathetic. He gave a soft, exaggerated exhale to demonstrate his annoyance and shoved the book into her hands. _Purchaser_.. _Wood Type… Square Footage…_

"Mill-"Addie was cut off by Damon pressing a finger to her lips. He tugged at his ear again and pointed upstairs, She rolled her eyes but nevertheless her removed his finger from her mouth and pointed to some scribbling at the bottom of the page. Wickery Bridge was made of White Oak.

Screw his overhearing nonsense. Who the hell cared what kind of wood a bridge was made out of? Something wasn't _wrong_. Damon had just gone mental. Addie mockingly hissed, " _That's fascinating."_

Damon gave her a cold look as he snatched the book back. Clearly he wasn't in the mood for games, either. Addie contemplated the idea of simply leaving when a vaguely familiar voice floated into the room.

"Milling record?" Sage said curiously.

Addie merely gave the vampire a cursory glance before doing a double take. Her red hair was messily pulled back and wet. She didn't seem to be wearing anything besides a black, long sleeve button up. Addie's lips pressed into a thin line as she unconsciously crossed her arms. Surely there was a reasonable explanation as to why Sage was wearing one of Damon's shirts, fresh out of the shower. It most definitely wasn't what it looked like. She wasn't going to jump to that conclusion. Though it was definitely within her right to be aggravated with Damon for not telling Sage to be quiet. Or perhaps Sage was who he hadn't wanted to overhear.

Damon gave her a smug smirk and answered, "Our family made one of its many fortunes selling lumber. It's why Rebekah's been digging around about this stuff. That tree was on our land and milled by our yard. The ledgers will tell me where it was shipped. Business archives should be around here somewhere." He pretended to browse the bookcase; Addie hadn't even noticed him put the book back. "Get upstairs, make sure you keep her distracted," he ordered.

"What about her?" she asked curtly, jutting her chin towards Addie.

Clearing his throat slightly, Damon stepped away from the shelves just enough to wrap a protective, possessive arm around Addie's waist. The edge and unspoken threat in his voice were clear. "Addie's fine right here with me."

Addie brushed Damon away once Sage had left the room and demanded, "What's going on?"

"Will you keep your voice down?" he growled as he moved towards the fire, grabbing a lighter off the mantle. "How many times do I have to tell you I don't want to be overheard?"

"That's the first time you've _told_ me," she sassed, following him closer to do as he requested. "Why didn't you tell me you were back in town?"

"I was going to. I found out from Elena that Alaric was being released this morning. I figured that should be my first stop, to check out just how homicidal he was. In the process of evaluating that, we wound up at the Wickery Bridge restoration project. Rebekah was creeping and lurking around; it was obvious she was up to something. I ran into Sage there and she suggested how I could figure out what Rebekah was up to. Once I finished all this up, I was going to call you," Damon explained uninterestedly as he focused on lighting a fire.

Addie opened her mouth to respond but couldn't. She paced to the opposite end of the fireplace before trying again. Slowly she tried to understand, "Let me get this straight. You left me with a guy who randomly becomes a psycho killer to figure out what Rebekah was up to because Sage suggested it?"

Damon frowned at her as he stood back up, retightening his towel. "You're making it more dramatic than it is. Dr. Blood Snatcher _wasn't_ going to leave Ric's side and she's loaded up with enough tranquilizers to take down an elephant. You were perfectly safe."

"Sure, ok," agreed Addie. She was going to stand by her conviction that Damon had gone mental. That or he was _really_ pissed off at her. A rational Damon would have seen all the flaws with that concept of _perfectly safe_. "I suppose the Rebekah thing needed attending to immediately?"

"Obviously. For one, we didn't know what Rebekah was up to but we know Originals make bold, dramatic moves. Second," his voice dropped so low she could barely hear him, "I needed Sage for the plan and you never know when she's going to take off."

"So, your obsession with the Originals and some plan took priority over taking ten seconds to text me to say you were back," she muttered, nodding slowly, as if she understood.

"It's a matter of a few hours, Addie. It's not a big deal."

Addie scoffed bitterly, "Are you kidding me? You'd be having a fit if I waited 12 hours after Alaric got released to tell you."

"That's -"

"It's _not_ different. It's a double standard."

Damon held up his hands in surrender. It wasn't a double standard; in one situation she was safe and in the other she wasn't. However, when Addie made up her mind about being right and she couldn't be proven wrong with solid evidence, there was no point in arguing with her. He didn't have time to argue the matter with her. "Ok. I should have at least texted you."

Her eyes narrowed at him angrily. She knew he was just telling her what she wanted to hear; he didn't actually agree with it. Whatever. It wasn't _that_ important. Whatever he had figured out had at least better be worth it. "What's Rebekah up to?"

He raised a finger to his lips again as he pulled the same book as before from the bookcase. He opened it up to the same page and ran his finger under the part that said Wickery Bridge was made of White Oak. Addie shook her head and shrugged her shoulders; she didn't get it. Damon shut the book and mimed staking himself in the chest.

Oh! A White Oak stake could kill an Original. Hadn't they burnt the only tree to the ground, though?

Reading the confusion on her face Damon whispered softly into her ear, "Rebekah and Klaus found out another was planted."

"How'd you figure this out," Addie mumbled. She doubted either one of them would have willingly offered up this information to Damon.

"I slipped into Rebekah's mind and read her thoughts."

Teeming with disapproval she tsked, "More mind rape."

"It was for a good cause," Damon pointed out defensively.

"It's always for a good cause," she replied snidely. "Why do you need Sage?"

"I needed Sage to sleep with Rebekah so her defenses were lowered so I could enter her mind," he explained.

Addie's forehead creased in thought as she frowned at Damon. She was fairly certain Rebekah was straight. "How'd you manage that?"

Damon rolled his eyes as his fingers threaded through his damp hair. "Fine," he admitted, "I might have had to suggest we all participate to get Rebekah on board."

Addie blinked rapidly in confusion. Her brain had only registered his first four words but surely she had heard him wrong. Damon wouldn't sleep with Rebekah. Damon hated Rebekah. Besides, he was in love with her, wasn't he? Shaking her head Addie decided, "No, you didn't." She giggled slightly, "You didn't do that."

Damon's eyebrows knitted in confusion. Why was she insisting that he hadn't? "Yes, Addie, I did."

"No because if you did that, you'd be an idiot and I'm not dating an idiot," Addie said firmly.

"We're not dating," Damon pointed out. "So, I think I have free reign on being an idiot."

Addie bit at her lip in consideration. _Her_ Damon wouldn't have sex with Rebekah. That was something he would have done before they were together. "So, you cheated on me," she slowly concluded, too confused to feel hurt.

He quickly shook his head and firmly stated, "No. I told you I would never do that. I know that we are over if I ever do that. Besides, we're not dating; anything I did wouldn't be cheating."

As she was inhaling deeply, his hand clamped firmly over her mouth. His eyes were wide and stern, "I cannot have you going supersonic and ruining this just because you're upset. There is a bigger picture than just you and me going on here. You can say and do whatever you want, just wait until Rebekah leaves."

Disgusted, Addie used all her might to shove Damon's hand away. She wasn't going to bite him; she didn't want any part of him in her mouth. "Don't worry," she spat, feeling her face turn red with anger, "I'm not going to ruin anything for you. And _you_ are the only picture going on here."

"Hey," Damon said gently, catching her wrist as she spun on her heel.

"Don't 'hey' me," snapped Addie, snatching her wrist back. " _You_ have us on this break up. _You_ go out and sleep with somebody as part of a 'plan.' It all seems a little too coincidental and convenient for you."

"You think I actually slept with Rebekah and Sage?" he growled low into her ear.

She rolled her eyes, stepping away from him. "No, they definitely forced you in _your_ plan."

"Addie, there is zero attraction there." he hissed in a whisper.

"I'm not doing this! I'm not having some hushed argument because you're more afraid of screwing up your plan than you are of screwing up your relationship," Addie declared at a normal volume.

This time, when she tried to leave, Damon didn't stop her. Addie sat in her car for a few minutes, clenching and unclenching the steering wheel as the engine idled and the Jeep gently rocked beneath her. She would not cry. It was nothing more than she expected from Damon. And Rebekah. Rebekah was her friend but she was selfish and had always considered Damon attractive. Addie had worked through to feeling pain but anger and betrayal were emotions she could understand. Establishing her destination Addie began to drive. Fifteen minutes later she was knocking on one of the large double doors.

The porch light flicked on and the door opened. Leaning against the door with his forearm Klaus beamed at her, "Addison! To what do I owe this pleasant surprise?

"My boyfriend slept with your sister," Addie said slowly. Somehow saying it out loud made it seem true.

"And you want me to kill Damon?" Klaus suggested, his head tilting curiously towards her.

"No."

Klaus smile lessened as he considered her and guessed, "And you want me to dagger my sister?"

Addie frowned. "You would do that?"

He shrugged. "Not for nothing. My siblings are all linked to take down Rebekah I'd have to take down three brothers. Finn's actually a liability with his suicide mission so I suppose we could consider him an even trade for Rebekah but I'm still losing Elijah and Kol, two assets. What do I get in return?"

She scoffed, "Is it just in the male DNA to be disgusting pigs? The members of your family are people. You don't just get to decide if they live or die."

"I wouldn't be killing them," Klaus countered, "just daggering them."

"And in your case you sometimes do that for 900 years. That's pretty much as good as dead. The only reason Finn was undaggered was because of Elijah."

"And look how well that turned out. He's trying to kill us all," the hybrid laughed.

"Yeah, well, you can't choose your family. Trust me, I would have traded in my sister a long time ago," Addie snickered.

"You can trade her for Finn," he offered with a smile.

Addie stroked her chin in mock thought before shaking her head, "Nah, with Finn comes your mother and she's a bit of a witch."

Klaus snapped his fingers in mock disappointment and muttered under his breath, "Damn. I was hoping for a two for one deal." His playful act suddenly dropped as he studied her seriously. Quietly he asked, "If you don't want me to do something about Damon or Rebekah, how come you've wound up at my door?"

She made to respond, heard the words in her head, and thought it better not to. "This was a mistake."

"You had to have had a reason to come here. Why?"

"It's stupid," Addie mumbled, running her hand through her hair.

"I like that, by the way," Klaus complimented. Her brows furrowed in confusion. "The red is nice. It's not fire engine red but a pretty, deep cherry red."

She looked at a couple of strands as her cheeks flushed. It was weird getting compliments from Klaus. Damon hadn't even noticed. Softly Addie said, "Thanks."

"Do you want to come in?"

Addie's eyes squeezed shut in attempt to hold back the tears. What the hell was wrong with her? She wasn't going to cry over Damon not cheating by a technicality but she would because he hadn't noticed she dyed her hair? "This was a mistake."

"You said that but you're still here," he pointed out, uncharacteristically gently. Addie gave a slight laugh. "Come in for a drink. If it's still a mistake, you can go."

"I have to drive."

"I don't think you should be driving."

She sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to keep the tears from falling, "I don't like when you're right."

Klaus chuckled as he placed a hand on the small of her back and guided her into the mansion, "You don't like when anyone who isn't you is right."

"True," consented Addie as he led her away from the main room and into a more intimate office, "which is why I try to make it a point to always be right."

"You're right a lot of the time but not all the time," he conceded, motioning for her to sit on the black leather loveseat.

"Like now. I was wrong to come here," she mumbled as she watched him pour two tumblers of dark amber liquor.

He passed her one of the glasses before taking a seat next to her. Taking a sip from his own glass he studied her. Her eyes and nose were red as she tried to keep from crying, her bottom lip kept disappearing between her teeth and there was a slight tremble to her. She was literally shaken up. Softly Klaus demanded, "Why do you keep saying that?"

Addie ducked her head and guilty admitted, "I felt angry and betrayed. I could only think of one way to make Damon feel the same. It was petty and stupid of me. I don't even want to hurt him. And it was, is so wrong of me to use you like that."

"Ah, well, Damon's a bit of a pain in the arse so any chance I get to be one in his, I'm not going to complain. It's not wrong to want to make Damon angry or feel hurt like he hurt you. So don't feel bad about coming here," Klaus advised.

"No offense but I'm not prone to taking moral advice from bad guys."

"Now, why do I have to be a bad guy?" Klaus complained, resting his cheek on the back of the couch and looking up innocently at Addie.

She tried to think back to the last reason Klaus was put into the 'bad' column. "You threatened to kill someone if I didn't show up to your fancy party," Addie recalled.

"Yeah but when did I last actually do something? I haven't done anything since I tried to kill your brother. Stefan had my family hostage and that called for drastic measures. I even saved Caroline! I've done good!" he lamented.

Addie balked at him. "And you still have to ask why you're bad? And Caroline wouldn't have needed to be saved if you hadn't told Tyler to bite her. But you _have_ done some good. Even though you weren't invited, your presence was appreciated that night I heard Damon tell Elena he loved her."

Klaus briefly hesitated, unsure he wanted to know the answer, "Do you want to talk about Damon?"

She shook her head and took a sip of the liquor. It was strong and tasted like caramel and Christmas cake. It tingled in her mouth and tickled as it traveled down her throat. Setting the glass on the coffee table she wondered, "What is it with you guys and expensive alcohol? I get alcohol for the cravings but I don't get spending so much."

"Every sense is heightened when you're a vampire, including taste. You can't taste a difference between a $5,000 scotch and a $25,000 scotch but a vampire can. Then there's the simple matter of money not mattering. Whether it's because you've lived a thousand years and have amassed a fortune or if you can just compel what you want, money isn't a factor," he dismissed, noticing she hadn't answered his question. He watched her picking at invisible lint on her thigh and nudged her knee. When Addie looked up at him he gave her a small, encouraging smile. "So, when did Damon become your boyfriend again? I thought you guys broke up this summer."

"You actually believed we were broken up?" Addie scoffed.

Klaus shrugged. "I wasn't exactly sure. I mean, you guys basically lived together before he drugged you. Then things were kind of messed up and I thought you might be over but then he started sleeping at your house. Then the Elena thing. I knew he loved you and I didn't know if he was just being protective of you. I thought it might just be a comfort thing. I didn't really think that you would be cool with just being friends and being that close, though. And it eventually became apparent that you loved him. I figured it was more than likely you were together."

"We got back together as soon as I got back to town, pretty much," Addie confirmed. "Then we did break up over the Elena thing. Kind of. I don't know what happened. I had a moment of doubt and told Damon I didn't want to do it anymore. He wrote me some break up letter where he was 'letting me go' but not giving up on us and took off to New York City. When I called him and told him that I wanted him he said no and that I needed to think about the situation longer. So, according to Damon, we are not together and he did not cheat on me when he slept with Rebekah."

Klaus could definitely see Damon's argument. He grabbed Addie's glass and placed it back in her hand. "Drink," he ordered.

Addie eyed him suspiciously as she took another small sip. She set the scotch back down and noted, "That's not exactly an encouraging response."

"I don't like Damon," Klaus said quickly.

"That's an already established fact."

"Good."

"So, why the tight lipped response?" she questioned, knocking her knee against his.

Klaus frowned into the glass. "What Damon did isn't exactly the most appropriate thing to do if you plan on working on a relationship and not giving up on it but _technically_ you guys aren't in a relationship right now."

"That's just a technicality! He essentially cheated!" Addie exclaimed.

"Why did they even sleep together?" he inquired.

Addie bit her lip, tempted to reveal Damon's plan. Elijah didn't deserve to die. Neither did Rebekah, despite sleeping with Damon. Klaus seemed semi-manageable in her opinion but Damon's obsession with killing him had ruled the greater part of their relationship. With Klaus gone their relationship probably stood a better chance. That wasn't a valid enough reason to kill him, of course, but his past…. But how could she judge Klaus on his past without judging Damon? They should only kill Klaus if/when he was an active threat. Though Klaus might kill Damon for using his sister, first.

She shrugged. "Why do any two people sleep together?"

"There's an endless number of reasons. There's just as many variants on sex. Like, did they actually _sleep_ together?"

"What does that matter? They had sex. Is there some rule where it's only cheating if both people sleep on a Tuesday before 11:30 or some other bullshit?" she snapped, not seeing his point.

Klaus shrugged one shoulder casually and took a drink. "It doesn't matter," he acquiesced.

"What's that suppose to mean?" snipped Addie, growing frustrated.

He placed her glass back in her hand and motioned for her to have more. As she did he explained, "No circumstances matter if you've already decided that it's clear, cut and dry, that Damon having sex outside of your relationship is cheating."

"How is this not obvious? Please, explain this to me because it's clearly not obvious to Damon either. Explain the working of the male mind," she challenged.

"If they _slept_ together, that implies some level of intimacy or trust. It's one thing to be alert with a person and another thing entirely to be asleep and defenseless with them. If they just -"

"It was a three-way," Addie interrupted bluntly, the alcohol starting to take effect.

"Well," he coughed, clearing his throat, "that's more about my sister's sex life than I ever cared to know."

"Yeah."

Not convinced, Klaus asked after a moment, "Are you certain Damon actually did that? I can imagine him doing a lot of things but I don't really imagine him as the type to hurt you like that."

"Yes," Addie said certainly. "He dumped me to go have sex."

"Well, if he dumped you, he didn't cheat on you," Klaus pointed out brightly. He wasn't sure why he had tried to point out Damon's possible defense. "You can't have it both ways."

"So my options are he's a cheater or sex is better than me?" she scoffed.

"I'm sure Damon would say neither statement is true."

Sassily Addie retorted, "I don't want to hear what Damon has to say."

"Then I guess you'll never know," he replied in a taunting tone. A couple of minutes of comfortable silence passed before he added, "You know Damon is going to want to talk to you."

"I know," she muttered, taking another small sip of scotch. "He won't want to talk to me if I'm here, though."

"Oh, so you really came here to hide," Klaus teased.

Addie shook her head slowly. "No but you do pose an interesting idea. This place is big enough to make for a fun game of hide and seek."

"Well," he sighed, stretching his arm out along the back of the couch and behind Addie, "you're welcome to hideout here anytime."

"Thanks," she mumbled, resting her head back against his arm. After nearly half an hour she softly asked, "Should I talk to Damon?"

Klaus sighed as he took her empty glass and set it next to his on the table, "I can't tell you what to do. I do know Damon, though. If he's serious about not giving up on you, he's not going to give you a choice about talking to him at some point. The longer you avoid the situation, the worse it will get, in my opinion."

Addie wasn't sure if she just wanted it all to end and to never have to face Damon again or to hear from him that it was all some big mistake. Unthinking, her head slipped towards Klaus' shoulder. She wasn't sure why revealed, "We know another White Oak was planted."

The blood drained from Klaus' face. "How do you know that?" he demanded, his voice tight and restrained.

"You just confirmed it."

"Where did you hear that first?" he grumbled, trying not to lose his temper.

"Damon. I don't know where he found it out from, though. He'll be looking for the tree."

Suspicious he asked, "Why are you telling me this? You realize you're giving me incentive to kill Damon?"

Good question. "If Damon or anyone is going to kill you, you deserve to see it coming. You deserve a chance to fight back. Killing you has always been everyone else's obsession, not mine."

"Flattered to know you're such a fan," he smirked, looking down at her as she looked up into his face, her head on his shoulder.

"Don't flatter yourself. If I see murder as a realistic and appropriate solution to a problem, then I have to question my humanity. Besides, telling you what Damon knows protects his life until he finds the tree. You know there is nobody who will search harder for a way to kill you. If anybody is going to find that White Oak, it's going to be Damon," Addie rationalized off the cuff.

"You're right about that," Klaus muttered bitterly. For the hundredth time he wondered how someone as amoral as Damon ended up with someone like Addie.

A familiar melodic beeping began to issue from Addie's pocket. As she pulled out the phone she asked Klaus for his opinion, "How upset should I be that it's taken him a few hours to contact me? I did walk in before your sister even left, but still."

"He probably didn't want to face your immediate wrath and hoped you'd cool down a bit," he suggested, not certain what she wanted to hear.

 **Damon: Alaric's a bit more unpredictable and uncontrollable than anticipated. He cut up Dr. Fell pretty good. We've got him sedated for the night but I'm going to stay with him just to be sure. Bonnie will be here soon to work some magic and hopefully suppress his evil nature.**

Addie rolled her eyes as she put the phone away and muttered, "It doesn't even have anything to do with me." She wasn't sure if that was a disappointment or a relief.

"What does he want?"

"It doesn't even matter," she mumbled, suddenly feeling exhausted. Her head turned into the crook of his neck as her eyes slipped closed. It was just so much easier than to let the pain in.

"Ok," Klaus whispered as he stroked where his hand rested around her shoulder. He wasn't going to try and voice her to talk if she didn't want to. That was something Damon did and it apparently was ineffective. He kept telling himself that he was only encouraging and allowing Addie around him because he needed her to trust him, he needed her to agree to his plan when the time came. She didn't need to tell him they knew about the White Oak tree. That was definite evidence that things were moving in the right direction. Things were meant to stay strictly professional but there was no denying that she was starting to grow on him.

Addie frowned as her cheek brushed against the sweater. The cloth was too itchy and the shoulder too bony. The scent of pine and evergreens was definitely off. She tensed as a hand ran over her head and hair; it was all wrong. _Damon_ knew she liked it when he ran his finger through her hair. Her eyes flew open and flashed around the room. The walls weren't lined with books from floor to ceiling and it looked much more like an office than the study at the boarding house.

She slowly stood up, eyeing Klaus and the room warily as she muttered, "I need to go."

"Why?" asked Klaus, his brow furrowed in confusion as he followed her to the door.

It was so wrong. She should have never let her guard down around Klaus. She never should have even gone over to his house. She was being a jealous child trying to get back at Damon when she had done that.

"I just need to," she mumbled, running her hand through her hair as she looked out the doorway and saw a long white hall to the left and to the right. "How do I get out of here?"

His lip pursed at her abrupt change in behavior but Klaus placed a hand on the small of her back to lead Addie to the front of the house. As his other hand rested on the front door, he looked down into her eyes and tried to compel her. "Are you ok?"

Insistently Addie nodded, "Of course. I just need some alone time and some space to think."

"Alright," he agreed, unconvinced. She was probably on vervain just like everyone else in town. "Call me if you need anything."

"Yeah," she said blankly, stepping out the front door.

"Hey." Klaus quickly grabbed her by the elbow before she could walk away and planted a soft kiss against the corner of her mouth. His lips brushed against the soft skin as he murmured, "Don't let Damon get to you. He's a fool for not realizing what he had."

Disgusted, Addie yanked her arm out of Klaus's grasp and took several steps away from him as she spat, "You're way out of line. I'm not something for him to have or own but even if I was, he'd still have me."

Klaus glared at her as she retreated, calling after her, "You're playing a very dangerous game, Addison."

Addie scowled as she opened up her car door. What game was he talking about? Stupid, narcissistic vampires.

* * *

When dawn could be seen off in the distance, Addie had decided to leave North Shore Boardwalk. If she was going to obsess over Damon, her relationship with him, how she felt about him sleeping with Rebekah and just what it all meant, it made sense to go back to where it had all started with their first official date. The boardwalk had been closed but the sounds of the waves lapping at the beach were soothing. She hadn't come to any conclusions, though.

Addie stifled a yawn as she walked up the stairs towards her room. Her heart sped with anxiety as she noticed her bedroom door was opened. She bounded up the last couple of steps and into the doorway.

"Ugh!" she groaned, hitting her head against the doorframe. As Damon sat at her desk looking at uncrumpled papers she snapped, "I keep this door locked for a reason!"

Damon replied coolly as he set one paper aside and picked up another one, "If you really want to keep someone out, try getting a pin lock. You know, on all these list of pros and cons about me, you never list the most important one: I love you."

Scoffing, she snatched the paper from his hand and the several other lists on her desk that he had apparently already reviewed. A week had given her a long time to think and a lot of time to start and never complete the lists. How was she supposed to capture all the wonderful things about him? It was a simple preference that she didn't want to review all the negative parts.

"You have no understanding of personal boundaries or acceptable behavior," Addie grumbled as she balled up the papers and tossed them in the wastebasket.

He picked up a pen and began to casually twirl it between his fingers as he casually replied, "Agree to disagree. Or it's possibly you're, like, fifty percent right."

"Yeah, only fifty percent," she agreed sarcastically. "Aren't you supposed to be babysitting Alaric? I'm pretty sure that doesn't involve breaking into my room and snooping through my things."

"He's down with some tranquilizers and rope. Plus, Bonnie thinks her hocus pocus should keep his alter ego at bay. So, I don't _really_ need to check on him until the tranquilizers start to wear off. And," Damon started very defensively, holding up a finger to signify the importance of his point, "Ric broke in here when he was trying to kill Meredith. Also, if you don't want people reading what you write, I recommend throwing it away instead of just balling it up and leaving it on the floor."

Addie exhaled loudly, rolling her eyes, "I don't care what your excuses are. You _knew_ I wouldn't have wanted you reading those and yet you did anyways."

As he tapped the pen against the desk he sighed, "That's because you won't tell me what you're thinking."

"Excuse me but that is utter horse shit!" she exclaimed. "I try and you say 'go think about it.' So basically, you don't like whatever I say the first time and you want me to change my mind." Addie stared at Damon for a few minutes, waiting for him to deny the accusation. When it was obvious that he was more interested in playing with the stupid pen, she decided to go take a shower.

"You don't want to go in there," Damon quickly warned as he saw her reaching for the doorknob. "I don't think Elena finished cleaning up Meredith's blood. It looks like a bloody shower scene from a horror movie."

As her hand rested on the knob, Addie contemplated, "I suppose the sisterly thing for me to do would be to help her."

He rolled his eyes and snorted, "Yeah, you know, unless you just make everything worse by barfing all over the place."

"The squeamish, ick factor to blood is still really only there for people I care about," she admitted with a slight disappointment; she really didn't want to deal with her , Alaric living with them was Elena's idea so any messes resulting from Alaric and his alter ego were Elena's responsibility, at least that was how Addie was going to reason it. As she began to take off her shoes she quipped, "I don't suppose there's any chance you'd just…," she had to pick her words carefully as she didn't want him disappearing again, "go watch Alaric and leave me here with my broken door?"

"He just snapped the knob out of place. I can replace it tomorrow?" Damon suggested, stretching his legs out and crossing them at the ankle.

"I don't need you, Damon. I can switch out a stupid doorknob," sneered Addie.

He arched a cool eyebrow as he mildly remarked, "I know you're capable of replacing a doorknob. Is it that you don't need me for that or you don't need me for other things, too?"

Addie's lips pursed as she tossed her Converse unceremoniously in her closet.

"Are you just going to give me the silent treatment, now?" he asked irritably as he watched her pull out a pair of pajamas.

She made a quick mocking face in the mirror; he could be so annoying. Turning towards Damon she gave him a forced smile and said in a sickeningly sweet voice, "Please get out so I can change. See? I directed words towards you; that's not the silent treatment."

"Deep. Touching. Heartfelt. Just what I was looking for," Damon replied sarcastically as he stood up. "And exactly what I expected. When things get tough or too personal, you deflect. You're worse than me," he scoffed before walking out the door. Addie noticed it didn't latch behind him.

Addie huffed irritably as she stripped out of her clothes and yanked on her pajamas. She was worse than him? Had he ever spent a day with himself in 170 years? He was the king of deflection. Her face twisted into grimace as she watched herself gather her hair back into a messy ponytail. If Alaric was knocked unconscious, it wasn't like he would overhear them fighting. If Elena overhead, well, it would just feed into the idea that Damon was in love with her. Determined to get a straight answer from him about everything going on, Addie stormed into the hail.

"Fe-fi-fo-fum, somebody's got the angry march of a tiny giant," teased Damon as he sat in the hall, his back against the door to the room Alaric used.

Her arms crossed as she leered down at him. "I'm not in the mood for your attitudes."

He figured. It wasn't exactly like he was in the mood to fight with her but she _was_ mad at him over her assuming he slept with Rebekah and Sage and they both deserved to say their piece on that. Patting the spot next to the ground next to him wearily he sighed, "Alright, come on."

Sitting next to him, Addie pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them. Uncertain where to start she blurted, "I went to Klaus' tonight."

This wasn't new information but still hearing her say it made his jaw clench as he twirled a strand of of deep red hair around his finger. "I know," he grumbled, releasing the curl. "You didn't just go to Klaus's house; you were close with him. I can smell him on you."

"And you're not having a fit about that?" she observed, perplexed.

Damon snorted humorlessly, "I'm furious. I want to go over there and kill him. I want to yell at you for being so reckless and careless. Now, would doing any of that do me any good or would it just further infuriate you?"

"Turns out you can make a wise decision," Addie replied coolly.

"It's been known to happen every now and then," he smirked, nudging her shoulder with his playfully. "But you rea-"

"Don't you dare start to lecture me," she snapped.

He gave her a cheeky grin and wagged his eyebrows suggestively, "You want to lecture me?"

Addie gave him a long look out of the corner of her eyes before rolling them and grumbling, "You deserve so much more than a lecture."

When she didn't elaborate after a few minutes he asked, "You want to start arguing or would you just like to sit here in silence?"

She groaned and dropped her forehead to her knees and wrapping her arms around her head so Damon couldn't see her face. Her words were muffled but he could still make out her lamenting, "Where am I supposed to even begin?"

"Perhaps if you don't know where to begin, you're not actually mad at me," Damon remarked with false hope.

"No, no, no. I'm _definitely_ mad at you."

"Oh." Damon ran his fingers through her hair as she continued to look away from him. "Why did you dye your hair?"

Resting her cheek on her knees Addie gave Damon an incredulous look. "You wanna talk about my hair?"

He smirked as he took a lock and brushed the ends against the tip of her nose, making her face scrunch up as it tickled. He brushed the hair behind her ear and looked into her eyes as he confessed, "I want to talk to _you_ , Ads. I want to communicate about whatever's going through your head. I want you to talk _to me_ instead of going to Klaus. If getting you to talk means discussing something as mundane as your hair first, then that's what I want to talk about."

"It was blue for too long. I got tired of it. I wanted a change," Addie muttered, not particularly interested in the topic.

"I like it," Damon said with a small smile. He leaned in to kiss her temple but saw her tense and decided not to.

"Sleeping with - "

He sighed loudly as his head banged back against the door, "I didn't sleep with anybody. I merely suggested the idea."

"Whatever," she grumbled. She didn't see the difference. "Whatever you did with them, was it worth it?"

Damon ran his hand through his hair as he felt her deep blue eyes on him. "Yes," he eventually decided, "I got what I needed. I can now kill Klaus, which means you're safe from him. If your safety means losing you because I told a little lie in order to protect you, then it's worth it."

"There are so many things wrong with that statement," mumbled Addie.

"I want to protect the girl I love from the psychotic hybrid who has a very unhealthy obsession with her and wants her alive so he can use her at a future point; I don't see what's so wrong about that," objected Damon. Annoyed, he continued, "I _do_ understand being upset with her for willingly placing herself around him."

"But you don't understand the part where I'm upset that you had sex with Rebekah?" Addie asked in bewilderment. "How would you feel if I had sex with Klaus?"

His eyebrows furrowed and three creases appeared on his forehead as he critically studied her. He shook his head and insisted, "That's completely different. If you're having sex with someone, it's because you're in love with them. If you had sex with Klaus it would mean you're in love with him. Sex hasn't meant anything to me. And I _didn't_ have sex with Rebekah."

Addie scoffed in disgust, "Are you _trying_ to press the 'self-destruct' button on this relationship?"

"What?" Damon shook his head in confusion. "No, of course not. I want this to work more than anything. Why would you think that?"

Addie spoke slowly, as if explaining to a small child, "I tell you I want this relationship and you say no. You're able to have a meaningless threesome with other girls but you won't sleep with me."

He hadn't thought of it like that. "I'll come back to that first point," he promised. Damon rubbed at his chin as he thought of how he wanted to respond to the second part. "I didn't have a threesome; I merely suggested one with no intention of ever being involved. And I can have meaningless sex with anyone," he said slowly. "Actually, I'm quite good at that. Sex with meaning, with emotion, with love? The type of sex I want to have with you? That's all foreign territory for me. But, like I said, I wasn't involved in a meaningless threesome. It was really just a twosome with a bit of encouragement on my part."

"How much _encouragement_?" Addie sneered, growing impatient.

"I didn't touch anyone," he said clear and firm. "Addie, you know I can't lie to you."

Frowning Addie decided, "I don't think I want to discuss this. It doesn't seem relevant to my problem. You still had this brilliant idea of a threesome. You put your stupid obsession with the Originals ahead of how I would feel."

Damon was was quick to defend himself, saying, "First, it was _Sage's_ idea, not mine. Secondly, I didn't put them ahead of how you would feel. If we were dating I never would have suggested it."

"But since we were technically not together you thought I'd be cool with it?" she quipped, snorting at the absurdity.

Addie had never struck him as particularly jealous but there were her moments of insecurity. "I didn't think you'd be so upset. I'd figure you'd want to know out what Rebekah was up to. Really, Addie, it's not like I did anything."

"Oh, yeah. And if we have to pimp you out to figure that out, that's just an added bonus for you," she sneered sardonically.

"If I thought like that, I'd have slept with them, Addison," Damon corrected, his voice dropping as anger rose in him.

"Fine. You didn't sleep with them," Addie reluctantly agreed. "I don't get it," she declared softly after several minutes of silence.

Damon snorted humorlessly, quick to counter, "I don't get what the big deal is. It's wasn't really any different than watching porn.

"I really don't need to know those finer details. I wasn't talking about the fact that you're disgusting."

"And you don't even know a fraction of what I've done," Damon taunted, lazily rolling his head against the door to give her a devious grin.

She gave him a look of pity; he really didn't get it. "What you did is only disgusting because you have a girlfriend."

"I don't have a girlfriend," he replied dryly, looking back down the hall.

"That's because you're determined to self-destruct," she quipped.

Damon drew up a knee and rested his elbow on it. "What don't you get?" Deflection. It was the only way they really communicated.

"True or false: an anxiety disorder is a medical condition?" Addie proposed, her lips pursed and her brow furrowed deep in thought.

"True."

"But would you consider being anxious a personality trait of someone with an anxiety disorder?"

That was a trap. He was either a liar or he was brutal. "You're anxiety is innately Addison. It's like type I diabetes. It's a medical problem but you're born with it.

"Wasn't referring to myself but ok," she muttered bitterly. "It's a personality thing and a medical problem. Now, when you turn into a vampire you get super health, which would mean an anxiety disorder would go away. However, your personality and feelings are amplified tenfold. If being anxious is part of who you are, don't you just become more anxious, meaning you're not cured?"

That was an unexpected direction she'd taken. Curious, Damon inquired, "How do you even come up with ideas like that?" He was quite certain Addie and he had a very long conversation about her never turning and him never suggesting the idea. It was actually what led to their 15 year pact.

"I don't sleep. By the second or third night I start getting some really weird ideas but I also become really enlightened," Addie answered, doing her best to sound very wise, serious and knowledgeable.

It felt like a stake pierced Damon in the stomach as he recalled one of the first things she had put on a list of why she wanted to be with him; he kept away the nightmares. And she'd undoubtedly been having them since he'd been in New York. Or functioning on no sleep.

Addie rolled her eyes as the seconds stretched into an awkward silence. Pointedly she informed him, "Leaving is not what you should be feeling guilty about."

"You gained mind reading powers from not sleeping?" he quipped back defensively.

"No," she stressed, "you just have a shitty poker face."

Indignantly Damon exclaimed, "I have an excellent poker face!" She could take blows at his personality all she wanted but there was no need to make false accusations.

"You squint when you feel guilty. I mean, nobody would ever notice it unless they, like, obsessed over you but it happens."

"You avoid making eye contact."

She blinked and frowned as she tried to figure out his point. "So?"

"I don't know. I thought we were saying flaws about each other," he said, shrugging with disinterest.

"Oh, honey," Addie said patronizingly as she cupped the side of his face in her hand and made him look at her, "if I'm going to undertake the tedious task of pointing out your many flaws, I'm not wasting my breath on your poker face."

He felt his heart momentarily speed up at term of endearment, even if she didn't mean it as one. He was always just _Damon_ or _dick._ Crestfallen, Damon turned his head away. He couldn't think of the right words to say, nothing seemed appropriate. How did things end up awkward with _Addie_? "Are we ever going to get pass today?"

"Technically it was yesterday," Addie muttered tensely as she picked at an invisible piece of lint on her shirt. Slowly she decided, "There's nothing to talk about."

"So why does it feel so awkward?"

"Because we had a perfectly fine relationship and you've decided to sabotage it?" Addie suggested.

Damon snorted humorlessly, "I gave you some space to think about what you really want because I know exactly what I want and it doesn't involve being on and being off depending on your mood."

"Clearly you don't want me because if you did then you wouldn't have gone on a murdering spree and you definitely wouldn't have had a ménage a trios with Rebekah and Sage. You would have waited for me to figure out what I want," she snapped harshly.

"I didn't do anything with them! Everything happened between Rebekah and Sage. All I did was go inside Rebekah's mind once she was asleep. I didn't _touch_ anybody. God, Addie, I didn't even find two beautiful women having sex remotely attractive because I am so damn in love with you that you're the only person who is attractive. And I'm not saying it's your fault they're dead but I went out killing people because you crushed this stupid thing in my chest called a heart. You broke up with me, Addie! _You left me_. You broke your promise. You are the one person I thought I could trust and you let me down. I _didn't_ cheat on you or drug you or abuse you but you still left. You never even gave me a chance to fix things," vented Damon, nearly two weeks of suppressed emotions bubbling forth.

He had felt abandoned. Perhaps he was as afraid of her truly leaving him as she was of losing him to someone else. It still didn't excuse his behavior, though. Addie scoffed, "Left? Who's the one who ran off to New York without a goodbye?"

"What was I supposed to say, Addie?"

She sighed as she realized, "It's things like this. Back when everything was still new and I still felt special, you never would have just up and left. You never would have just accepted me breaking up with you. You'd push and push until I'd realize I'd made a mistake."

"And it's things like that which I have a problem with. I shouldn't have to push you into being with me. Also, I don't know if you've noticed, but I do a lot of pushing. You don't really like it," he reminded sharply.

Her lips pressed into a thin line and she fell quiet for several minutes. Damon closed his eyes as his head leaned back against the door. She was going to deflect in a matter of seconds.

"Did you… did you…." It was a lot harder to ask her question when she knew the truth.

"Did I want?"

"Shower with Sage?" she mumbled, recalling the image of the other woman in just his shirt.

Damon exhaled loudly. He couldn't fault her for being pissed about that. "I was showering. Sage decided to join because she wanted to know what I saw in Rebekah's mind."

Addie's face scrunched up as if smelling something rotten as she spat, "And you had no problem with that?"

If he said what she wanted to hear, he'd just be lying. He braced himself for a response as he admitted, "It didn't bother me. Did I find it inappropriate? Of course. Should I have known better than to shower with her around? Probably. She did it to get my attention and it didn't work."

"Why would she do that?" she demanded sharply.

"To get me to end things with you."

Addie scoffed in disbelief, "And why am I supposed to believe that I'm important to Sage?"

"You're not, that's her point. You're human. Humans are good for two things: blood and sex. You use them and then you're done. She doesn't like that I'm not using you for either of those purposes," Damon explained in a soft, sour voice.

"How is it any of her damn business?" Addie snapped furiously. Who did that red-headed harlot think she was?

"It's not," he reassured her, pulling her hand into his. "She's just… concerned for me."

"Then wouldn't she want you to be happy? I mean, you're the one who said we were happy," she mumbled grumpily.

"We were. We can be. We will be," Damon told her certainly. In an undertone he added, "We're just cursed with a fate as happy as Romeo and Juliet."

Addie frowned as she tried to free her hand from Damon's grasp but he refused to let go. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well," he said slowly as he rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand, "we knew getting into this that we're going to end. I don't know about you but that's going to be a pretty tragic ending for me."

Her lips pursed as she challengingly pointed out, "To have that tragic ending, we'd have to be together."

Damon pressed a kiss to her temple as he murmured, "Of course we're going to be together. Assuming you've decided you want me, that is."

Addie scowled, trying to shrug out from under the arm Damon wrapped around her shoulder, "You're the one who won't have me."

"No, Ads. I just wanted you to take some time to figure out if we are what you really want. I hate constantly worrying if you're going to change your mind about me. I hate the fact that it always feels like you're on the verge of ending things."

"It's not _always_ like that," she objected softly. She could see his point, and while it made her feel guilty, it didn't change anything. Sighing, Addie took his face in both her hands and gently pulled at him until his forehead rested against hers. His eyes were so blue, so startling blue. His eyes were so piercing that she felt completely exposed as she stared into him. She avoided eye contact to keep her secrets. She felt naked and vulnerable every time she met his eyes. This time he was the exposed and vulnerable one. There was a harrowing fear lurking in his beautiful eyes. For once, he was the one who chose to break contact, letting his eyes close. It rattled Addie to her core to see him sacred. All she wanted to do was protect him from it, like he protected her from the nightmares.

"Look at me, Damon," she softly ordered. His inhale could be heard as he reluctantly met her eyes. "You know what will make me leave you. You're in control of that. I'm not going to just abandon you. _If_ I leave you, it's going to be because you change your mind, not me. I will _always_ pick you, Damon. I'm also going to change my mind from time to time," Addie laughed uneasily. "I've committed myself to you for the next 14 years. Unless you drug, abuse or cheat on me, my mind is _always_ going to land back on you. I have a hard time committing to plans for this weekend. Committing myself to something, someone for years? For almost as long as I've been alive? That's daunting and I'm going to want to back out from time to time just because it seems so overwhelming. But, Damon, I don't mean it. I'm always going to want you."

Despite the soft breathe he released, there was still a lingering anxiousness about him. Addie's fingers threaded through the dark, soft strands of his hair as she decided to be direct and confront the fear he wouldn't admit. "I'm not going to disappear on you. I'm not going to leave you alone. I'm not your mother. I'm not Katherine. You're stuck with me."

"Promise me," he whispered, a desperation in his voice.

She could do better than that. Her lips ghosted against his as she murmured, "I love you, Damon."

He groaned softly as he tugged her across his lap, his mouth pressed hungrily against hers. Addie smiled into the kiss, comforted by the familiar softness of his firm lips and the gentle pressure he exerted. He kiss was confident, skilled, and exactly what she needed after being apart from him for so long. Damon growled, deepening the kiss as she softly tugged at his hair, wanting him closer. As she straddled him, his cool hands slid under her shirt and up her back, making her shiver.

A loud clearing of the throat caused Addie to quickly pull away from him, burying her face in the crook of his neck as her cheeks flared.

"Excuse me but making out with my sister is _not_ watching Ric," Elena reprimanded Damon as she stood in the hall.

"Excuse me but I'm guarding the door," Damon retorted in the same voice. Annoyed he pointed out, "He can't kill anyone if he can't get past the door."

Crossing her arms, Elena looked pointed at her sister curled up against Damon, his hand rubbing her back. "You're not doing as you said you would."

"Here. In there. It doesn't really matter where I babysit from. Unless his alter ego comes with super strength, he's not breaking free of the rope. Even if he does that, he'll break a limb jumping out the window so the only way out is through this door. So, while my eyes may not be on him, I'm making sure he's contained," he countered snarkily. "Now, unless you suggest I leave the door unattended, I suggest you leave because I'm going to continue kissing my girlfriend."

"Excuse me?" Elena gawked, her mouth hanging open.

"You heard me," Damon smirked as he lifted Addie's head from his shoulder to kiss her. Hearing Elena stomp down the stairs a few moments later, he pulled away and chuckled, "Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed."

"No, she just thinks you're in love with her," Addie snapped harshly, scowling. It was just as much his fault as it was Elena's.

He quickly shook his head. "You know that's not true, Ads."

" _She_ doesn't."

He tugged the scrunchie from her hair and ran his fingers through it, hoping to ease her obvious agitation. "Well, she's been thinking I've been single since this summer. Now that I've declared you my girlfriend, I'm sure she'll get the message." Addie didn't look anymore comforted. His thumb brushed over her frown as he suggested, "I'll talk to her."

She grinned, happily asking, "Can I watch?"

"Addie," he chastised sternly, "you're better than taking joy in your sister's unhappiness.

She shook her head and lightly replied, "Not really."

"Ads.'

" _You_ would have taken joy in Stefan's unhappiness if Elena had picked you," Addie pointed out, a slight pout to her lips.

"Exactly. I'm not a good person. You are," he emphasized, poking her over the heart.

It was a full-on point she gave him as she crossed her arms. "You are a good person. Besides, it's Elena."

"Be nice to your sibling. You never know when they'll shut their humanity off and you miss the originl version."

"Elena without humanity," Addie mused. "So… she'd be Katherine? A doppelganger in looks and attitude. Interesting."

"Yeah," Damon agreed slowly. "One is enough."

"I quite disagree. I'll take two Katherine's at the price of one Elena." Damon frowned at her and she held up her hands defensively, "Katherine isn't trying to steal my boyfriend."

"She was trying to sleep with me, though," he reminded her.

Her voice dripping with sarcasm, "Why don't we have a threeway?"

"You're, uh, you're still mad about that?"

"Mhm," she hummed, her lips pressed into a hard smile.

"That's a shame," Damon replied disappointedly. "You know, not only did you run off to Klaus but I'd be a damn idiot if I believed you smelled like him just from being near him."

Addie bit at her lip innocently as she ran her fingers through his hair. "You don't really want to fight about that, do you?"

Damon shrugged. He didn't want to _fight_ with her; he just wanted to yell at her for it. But if he let the Klaus thing slip, it was incentive to let the Rebekah and Sage thing slip.

"I swear, my hair has never looked as perfect as it has these past two weeks," he smirked, leaning into her touch as he said so.

Quickly Addie pulled her hand away and crossed her arms. "Well, if you don't like-"

She squealed as felt Damon's hand suddenly under her thighs, his fingers curling around to brush the inside of them. Her arms went around his neck for stability as he stood up.

"Hey! Put me down!" she protested, though her legs automatically wrapped around his waist. "I was in the middle of something!"

"You should be in the middle of sleeping," he chided as he used his shoulder to push open her bedroom door and then to close it. "I'll tuck you in."

When he tried to drop her on the bed, she only clung tighter to him, having to use her own strength to stay up. "No. We were talking."

Damon chuckled and bent until Addie's back was against the bed. "Come on, Ads," he insisted, patting her leg. "We can talk later. You've been up all night."

"So?" she pouted, burying her face against his shoulder..

"You need -," he cleared his throat, feeling her lips hot on his neck, "you need to get some rest."

Addie sighed as she continued to nuzzle against him. She was tired but that didn't mean much. No matter how tired she was, the nightmares would still come. Softly she asked, "Will you stay? At least until I fall asleep?"

"Of course," he whispered, pressing a kiss to her hair. He could feel her become less tense as she untangled herself from him. As she scrabbled under her blanket, Damon removed his shoes.

As soon as he stretched out next to her, Addie curled up into Damon's side, her head resting perfectly over his heart and her tight around his waist. As she sagged against him, she realized just how tired she was. Sleepily she muttered, "This feels weird."

He twirled a strand of red hair around his finger. The color was nice. Everything felt right to him. The days without her had been weird. "What's wrong?"

"I'm not used to you wearing a shirt," she teased, tugging on the black material.

"Is that your oh-so-subtle way of telling me to take it off?" chuckled Damon.

She blushed as she rubbed her cheek against the soft cotton and deeply inhaled the scent of ginger, cloves and sandalwood. "No," Addie whispered, smiling as she felt his fingers run through her hair. "Not now. Everything's perfect."

His brow furrowed in confusion. "Sure, if my best friend being tied down in case he wakes up as a psycho killer and your sister thinking I love her and free Originals is your definition of perfect."

"This _moment_ is perfect," she sighed dramatically.

Damon frowned. The moment didn't exist outside of reality. The problems were still problems. It wasn't perfect; it just felt like it. Being with Addie was perfect. This she made came to mind, reminding him that _perfect_ was far from what they really were.

They lapsed into a long silence as he brushed his thumb across her cheek repeatedly. So soft. So silky. So perfect. She was everything he didn't deserve and so much more.

"I don't like pets," he admitted quietly.

Her head shifted on his chest as she peered up at him with sleepy, deep blue eyes. He smoothed out her eyebrow furrowed in confusion and explained, "Pets die. You grow to love them and then they die."

"That's ridiculous," Addie mumbled tiredly. "Everyone di -," she abruptly cut off, acutely reminded that not everybody died. Perplex, she demanded, "Are you calling me a pet?"

He scoffed, "As much as I'd call a man-eating python a pet. I was referring to animals."

"What do you have against animals? You know, other than the fact that they're not designed to out live you."

"I had a pet once," Damon informed her grimly.

"And it died," Addie concluded. As her head settled against his chest again she couldn't help but wnder just how deep his abandonment issues went if he such a serious problem with pets.

He felt himself relax a little once her eyes were off him. His thumb went back to her cheek; he didn't want her to look at him with pity. Coldly, he confessed, "I killed it."

She wasn't sure if that surprised her or not. But why would he have a pet just to kill it? Genuinely she wondered, "Were you trying the bunny diet?"

He snorted at the irony. "Kind of. Sammy was Thanksgiving dinner. He was a turkey," he explained as he felt the corner of her mouth pull down.

A turkey? A _pet_ turkey? Addie could imagine Damon trying to turn a tiger into a pet, perhaps, but not a _turkey._ Warily she asked, "Now, how long ago was this?"

"About 160 years ago. I was twelve. He hatched when I was seven. My father always went turkey hunting with other guys from Founding Families, you know, like Jonathan Gilbert. My mother decided I was finally old enough to go one year. I'd never shot a gun so I was really excited. See, she didn't like me playing with guns. She always told me I was gonna shoot my foot. I was sure as hell confused when my dad handed me a sticking knife instead of a rifle that morning. Even then we still had another two turkeys bigger than Sammy. I think I argued with my dad for about thirty minutes about killing him before he finally… knocked some sense into me," Damon trailed off bitterly.

Addie went to shake her head but she realized the hand that had been running through her hair was holding her to his chest. Horrified, she whispered, "What sense?"

"Sammy wasn't meant to be a pet; he was meant to be food. Horses are meant for plows. Cows you can enjoy for four or five years, as long as you milk them. Once they're dried up you have beef. The egg to chicken ratio is only worth the feed the first three years. And we didn't have pigs but I'm sure there's a certain size you raise them to for maximum profit."

"Hmph," Addie acknowledged. That explained a lot. "You were basically raised to be the ultimate vampire, then."

"Because I was taught that animals serve their purpose and then you're done with them?" he asked, mildly amused.

She nodded against his chest. "Yeah. People are only good for sex and blood, right?"

"Don't you think you're proof that I _don't_ think that?" he retorted tartly.

"And the 15,000 people before me?"

That number was definitely off. "So, it took me 145 years to undo 23 of crappy parenting," Damon shrugged dismissively.

Realizing he was playing with her hair again, Addie lifted her head until she was looking into his face. He was closed, his emotions guarded. Still, she kissed him softly, a silent show of thanks. "You don't have to tell me about it," she whispered, pressing her lips to his cheek. He'd only told her because he read that stupid list.

"Yes, I do," he insisted, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "It bothers you not knowing about my human life. I don't want something as stupid as my past coming between us. It's not easy for me to talk about but I will for you, for us."

Addie shook her and reassured him, "I don't need to know who you were to know who you are. Of course I would like to know but not if it means you have to dragged up things you'd rather forget."

"I don't mind remembering for you as long as you promise not to take it too seriously. I don't need or want you to feel bad for me having to kill a turkey."

"So, I can't feel bad for twelve year old you?"

"No. He's been dead for almost 160 years."

"Can I feel bad that current you doesn't understand the joys of a pet?"

Damon slid his hands under his shirt she wore and up her back, gently massaging, hoping to distract her. "No, you can't. You definitely can't because you've never had a pet so you don't understand the joy so you can't be upset that I don't understand what you don't understand."

Addie arched her eyebrows in surprise and in an impressed toned replied, "That's some serious circular logic."

He nodded and sarcastically quipped, "It's called Addie logic. Are you familiar with it?"

"Don't get smart with me," she sassed, sticking her tongue out at him.

"Or else what?" he murmured, gently pushing at the back of her neck. She followed his touch as he guided her head to lay next to his on the pillow.

Yawning in his ear, she threatened, "Or else I'll fall asleep on you."

"You mean you'd actually do what you're supposed to be doing?"

"Shut up," she mumbled.

He chuckled and pressed kiss to her forehead. "You're too tired to properly engage in a battle of wits. If I did, that'd be like taking advantage of the drunk chick at a party."

"Because you've never done that," Addie injected sardonically.

"Not late-" he _had_ found that one girl in New York at a party. "I'm turning over a new leaf. Now, stop talking and go to sleep."

"Bossy," she muttered, moving her arm from his waist to over his chest, her fingers sneaking into the hair at the nape of his neck. Damon rested his cheek against hers as she lay half on top of him. He definitely didn't mind, he'd really missed it, but it was going to be impossible not to wake her if he had to rush to Ric. But since she seemed so comfortable, he decided that was a problem for future Damon; he was just going to enjoy holding his girl. Her breathing had evened out and he had thought she had fallen asleep when he softly heard, "We should work on your pet problem."

"I don't have a pet, ergo no issue."

"I've always wanted one. Jeremy's allergic to fur, though."

He made a quiet hushing sound and repeated, "Go to sleep."

"I am."

"No, you're talking about pets."

"I want one."

"I'll get you a goldfish," he grumbled, getting annoyed that she obviously wasn't concerned about getting adequate rest for herself. "Go. To. Sleep."

"No fishies," she muttered drowsily. "A dog. Or a cat. But I don't want you to hate it."

He sighed heavily, "I won't if you go to sleep."

A relief flowed through him when he felt her nod in agreement. Addie was most definitely not getting a pet. Pets died. Everyone she loved died. He was not going to let her be hurt by death again. A dog or cat, no matter how cute, would just be death in a cuddly package. They were not getting a pet.

Long after he thought she was asleep, Addie whispered, "Did you get any White Oak?"

"Barely," Damon snarled through gritted teeth.

"What happened?"

He opened his mouth to start ranting but remembered she needed her rest. "Rebekah burned up the old wood from Wickery Bridge."

"How'd she know?"

"Sage got into my head. Turns out she's in love with the suicidal one and since they're linked…," he trailed off.

Addie snickered softly. "Being mind raped isn't so much fun, is it?"

"I still won," he bit back curtly. "They didn't know to burn the old sign."

"You're really going to kill Klaus?" she murmured.

"As soon as I make a stake," he promised, kissing her temple.

Her stomach knotted in guilt and anxiety. Klaus would think Rebekah had destroyed all the wood. He would be killed in cold blood. Or worse, he'd kill Damon. Either way, someone was going to die.

* * *

 **A/N: So sorry that took me so long to get out. Thank you guys for remembering this still exist. This chapter has been a pain in my side. I wrote it. Then my computer literally melted. I re-wrote it and was about to post it when I realized that Damon would never cheat on Addie. (Seriously, WTH was I thinking?) So I had to write it all again. I think next chapter we'll see these two go public with their relationship and Damon has his little discussion with Elena, there's some fun confrontation with Rebekah, and the ultimate betrayal. Hint: Klaus.**

 **Thank you guys sooooo much for all your comments, follows, and adding this to your favorites!**

 **A/N dos: Yes, this chapter was posted. Following a couple of comments, I pulled it down** **for revision and editing. Then I looked back at those comments and people are seeing EXACTLY what's wrong with this couple. I put in over 100 hours into this chapter and it kicked my ass. I'm not going to rewrite it so that this unhealthy relationship looks healthy. Yes, I am very much aware of what I am writing (like 75% of the time). You are not meant to feel warm and gooey reading this. This are two very troubled people that were never meant to fall in love with each other. Damon _is_ manipulative and what he does is _not_ ok. I refer you back to the title, _Hostage_ Control. These characters are hostages of each other and of their emotions. If you're looking for that idealistic relationship, that comes to bloom in _Resist Control_. **

**Though, seeing the struggle I faced with this chapter and how it's obviously not what people want, I have become quite discourage in pursing this endeavor and this should be viewed as a notice of hiatus/termination.**


	23. Chapter 22

Addie scowled as she raked the knife down the last six inches of the light wood, pressing harder the closer she got to the end. The knife was barely sharp enough to be effective. She looked up as the miter saw turned off.

"It's too thin. I keep telling you that!" Damon barked in exasperation as he jabbed his brother in the chest with a piece of the old Wickery Bridge sign.

Stefan yanked the wood from Damon, snapping, "Do you want as many chances at this as possible or not?"

"I only need one shot," his brother snarled back. "I'd like it if my stake didn't snap against bone as I drive it into his cold, dead heart. This won't do." He broke the wood in two by closing his first around it.

At this rate Addie figured her stake would be the only one. They had already used up a third of the wood whining about how thick the stakes needed to be. Damon wanted something sturdy. Stefan wanted something inconspicuous. Alaric thought the perfect length meant they had to waste the bottom five inches. Addie just wanted to use the power tool. Damon had been very much against that, certain she would saw her own hand off. She wasn't above denying a small sense of satisfaction when he nicked his thumb because he was too focus on lecturing her.

"Your family milled trees. Didn't you ever hear the expression 'measure twice, cut once?'" Addie snickered as Damon leaned against the counter she sat atop of.

"Don't bring the blade so close to your hand. You're gonna cut it," he warned, not half as amused by her as she was.

"I know how to whittle. I know how to use a knife. I even know how to use a miter saw, which apparently, you do not," she reprimanded pointing the folding pocket knife at him.

"I do, too. I just have a pain in the ass brother who won't let me cut a decent size of wood. And stop playing with that or you're going to hurt yourself. Keep it against the wood," he grumbled.

"Hurt myself?" she scoffed, rubbing the pad of her them across the blade. "This thing isn't even sharp. If it was, I'd be quite concerned about whether my tetanus shot is current," she remarked, noting the rust near the hilt. "Where did you find this?"

Deftly he plucked the knife from her hand. Showing her the handle, he challenged, "One guess."

Wear and tear had created little dents and scratches along the mahogany wood that served as hilt and sheath but she could still make out the embezzled "U.S.A." Addie looked at him with mild surprise, "From when you were enlisted?"

"Mhm," he confirmed.

"Why?"

"Why what?" Damon inquired as he tested the sharpness of the blade against his thumb. She was right; he had let it get dull.

Addie frowned as she watched him and answered, "Why did you keep it? I thought you didn't like your time in the army."

"I didn't. That doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the toys," he smirked.

"You told me it wasn't a toy when you handed it to me," she countered quickly.

Shrugging carelessly he amended, "It's not a toy for girls."

"That's sexist."

"No," he insisted, quickly pressing the blade into his palm and pulling it back.

"Damon!" Addie cried, feeling uncomfortable as blood pooled in his hand.

He cringed at her tone and quickly rinsed his palm of in the sink next to him. "Sorry. I forgot about the blood thing," he confessed sheepishly, drying his hand on his jeans. He held it up to see, perfectly healed. "That's why it's not a toy for you. You don't just automatically heal."

"Then it's not a toy for _humans_ , not just girls."

"Fine, it's not a toy for humans," he agreed, plucking the White Oak from her hand.

"Stop being such an elitist dick and give me that back," she ordered.

Damon raised a cool, challenging eyebrow at her as he worked at the tip of the stake she was forming. "I'm an elitist dick because I'm not a fan of my very human girlfriend thinking of a knife as a toy? Rational," he nodded.

"You're an elitist dick because you think vampires are superior to humans," Addie corrected with a pout.

"No," he chuckled, setting the objects. He moved closer, cupping her face in his hands. "You are by far superior to me. I'm just little more durable," he winked.

Her fingers curled around the back of his neck as she leaned in until their foreheads touched. "That's not true."

"Did you just miss my miraculous self-healing?" he jested. "Until you can do that, I'm definitely more durable."

"That's true," she consented, pressing her lips gently against the corner of his mouth. He tried to kiss her properly but she quickly pulled just out of his reach. "Not until you admit we're equals."

He inhaled through his teeth sharply and gave her an apologetic grimace. "I can't do that. See, if you were me and I were you, well, I would have already driven this," he picked up the partially crafted stake, "through my heart."

Addie tilted her head from side to side, weighing the validity of his words. "So, I have a little bit more self-control and you have self-healing. We cancel each other out."

"Self-control? That's what stops you?"

"Yes," she nodded. "I know it's a very foreign concept for you."

"Are you kidding? I have impeccable self-control. If I had things my way, It's not so much foreign as it is ineffective. 'Act now, think later' just seems more… practical," he smiled innocently.

"Practical?" Addie scoffed. "Exactly how often does that strategy work for you?"

"Nine times out of ten."

"Name once."

Damon frowned for a moment before smirking. "I definitely didn't think about helping you deceive Katherine before agreeing to it. Had I thought about it, I would have realized what a suicidal mission it was. Had I thought about it, we never would have ended up together."

Her lips pursed as she tried to find a flaw in his argument. She could think of a thousands times his habit of acting without thought had turned out poorly but nothing had gone wrong with that decision. Things had turned out better than either of them had anticipated. That didn't settle well with Addie. She wished Damon would start giving the things he did more consideration before doing them.

"Stop," he sighed heavily, returning his forehead to hers. "Stop thinking about all the bad things I've done."

"I'm not."

"You are, so stop." Damon glanced over at his brother and Alaric as they discussed butchering the sign. Stefan was making a mess of everything. They did not need a bunch of stakes; just one quality one. All he needed was on clean shot at any of the Originals. _Everyone_ didn't need a stake. Addie definitely need one; she didn't need to be getting that close to Klaus.

"Fine. What do you want me to think about?" she challenged sharply.

He supposed he could leave Alaric and Stefan unsupervised for a few minutes. Worst case scenario, the stake Addie was working on would suffice. He took her hand and gave her a suggestive grin. Blushing slightly, she slipped off the counter and followed Damon as he tugged her towards the door. He waited until he heard the buzz of the saw before quickly opening the door and ushering Addie out.

"You were gone when I woke up this morning," she scolded him once he had shut the door.

Damon frowned in confusion. "Huh?" He had definitely not taken her into the hall to start an argument. He had left her a note telling her he would be at Ric's and to come over after she woke up. It wasn't that big of a deal. He hadn't figured she'd want to get up at eight on a Saturday to make stakes.

"You know, I could be mad that you bailed on me for powertools and your bromance but…," she gave a small shrug as she pressed her hand flat against his stomach and pushed him into the wall lightly. Her fingers traced up to his shoulder and grabbed at him lightly for balance as she pushed herself onto her toes and gently brushed her lips over his. With a smile Addie pulled away from him and simply said, "Good morning."

He smiled back at her, relieved she wasn't upset. "I definitely missed my 'good morning' kiss but I figured you'd rather sleep in," he explained, cupping her cheek.

As much as she enjoyed spending time with Damon, the business of stake making was quite dull. Addie nodded in agreement. "You figured correctly."

"That wasn't a proper 'good morning' kiss, though," Damon objected. "This is."

He tilted his head and sealed his mouth over her's. His lips pressed firmly against hers, trying to coax her into a deeper kiss. Addie's shoved her fingers into his glorious, silky hair and clenched it tight, making him gasp softly. She no issue giving him a _proper_ kiss but if he should kissed her first if he wanted to control it. Caught by surprise at her insistence for control, it took a moment for him to respond but when he did his mouth met hers with bruising pressure, lips open, hot and hungry. Determined to get an upper hand, his hands slid down her back and settled in her back pockets. Addie jumped slightly as he gently squeezed, allowing Damon to pull her closer to him.

"Damon!"

"Seriously?" Addie scoffed, breaking away from him.

Dramatically, he exclaimed, "Elena!"

"Ow!" Addie snapped, rubbing at the side of her head. "Wasn't like that wasn't right in my ear," she scolded, loudly finishing in Damon's.

"Sorry," he apologized, quickly pressing a kiss to her head. He tucked his arm around her waist and pulled her to his side. He smiled brightly at Elena and said cheerily, "What can I do for you?"

"Seriously?" Elena scoffed, sounding exactly like her sister as she looked meaningfully between her and Damon.

"Damon," muttered Addie, nudging him in the ribs.

Thinking quickly, he snatched the brown bag Elena was carrying and asked, "What did you bring me?" Peering into the bag he sniffed, "Yum. Chocolate muffins."

"They're not for you. They're for Alaric," reprimanded Elena. She reached for the bag but Damon used it to swat her hand away.

"Too bad he's on psycho killer lockdown. His visitation has been restricted," he quipped, catching her hand as she reached for the door.

Elena crossed her arms and demanded, "Why does Addie get to see him?"

"She doesn't. She came to see me," he countered. "That would explain our being in the hall, you know, his limited visitation list."

"Well, you've seen each other," Elena said simply. She grabbed Addie's wrist and tugged, "Let'S go."

"Damon," Addie repeated firmly, not budging.

"Seriously?" complained Damon.

"Yes, seriously! Very, very seriously!" she insisted, stomping her foot for emphasis. "And both of you stop using 'seriously.'"

Elena squinted at her sister and sneered, "You don't have a claim on the word."

"Even if I did, that wouldn't matter to you, would it?" Addie snapped fiercely.

"You can't posses a word!"

"I like it. I use it. Get your own word."

"You only like it and use it because I did first," Elena sneered.

With sibling issues of his own, Damon knew he should be the jast to judge but things between the sisters was getting ridiculous. Before Addie could make a comeback he bluntly observed, "You guys are fighting over _vocabulary._ "

With a scowl, Addie corrected him, "It's not about _vocabulary_."

"Oh," he mumbled. Then realization hit him. "Oh!" Damon scratched at an eyebrow as he realized both girls were staring at him expectantly. He inhaled sharply through his teeth, "Seriously?"

Addie hit him lightly in the stomach with the back of her hand. He'd come up with an excuse three days in a row as to why it wasn't the _right time_ to talk to Elena. If their little spat hadn't demonstrated just how necessary one was, Addie wasn't exactly sure how else she was supposed to get through to him?

Damon cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Addie, you, uh, want to take these muffins to Alaric?" he suggested, shoving the paper bag into her hands.

"No, no. I don't think I want to go hang out unsupervised with a man who might turn into a psychotic killer with every blink. I mean, even if I _did_ want to, he's under quarantine, per your orders," Addie reminded him, a slightly satisfies smile pulling at her lips. She could do with witnessing this particular discussion. She didn't want there to be any more misunderstandings.

Elena nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, I think Addie has every right to know the truth."

Running his fingers through his hair, he chuckled softly, "You're right, Elena; Addie definitely deserves the truth. You deserve it, too. I met you and you took my breath away. I had been dead for 145 years but you started my heart again. I'd be lying if I said my initial attraction to you had nothing to do with the fact that you were identical to the woman I'd spent all that time waiting for. It would also be a lie if I said it had nothing to do with the fact that you were my brother's girl. You were Katherine 2.0. No way was I just going to sit back and let Stefan be happy with Katherine. I swore to make his life miserable. Then I realized you were the exact opposite of Katherine. Everything wrong with her was perfect in you. A nice, selfless, straight shooting girl. Then, you screwed with my head. You didn't just make me think you liked me; you made me think I had a shot with you. It was all a lie, of course. You were so much more like Katherine than I ever believed."

"Then I figured out what love was and realized how superficial everything I ever felt for you was. I have never been in love with you, Elena," Damon admitted unapologetically.

"You-"

He held up his hand to cut her off and continued, "I know what I said. You misinterpreted the way I meant it. I am in love with Addie. I have only ever been in love with Addie. My love for Addie is so pure and strong that it extends beyond her and to the people she loves. I love you in such a way that you are an extension of Addie. She is my heart. Her wants and desires are mine. As much as you two hate each other, when all is said and done, you're still sisters. Addie may hate and resent you but your death would result in a little bit of her dying. That's why I protect you. That's why I can't let you die."

Elena shook her head slowly and whispered, "I don't understand. All this time… these pasts months, this summer-"

"That's my fault," Damon said quickly, earning him a cold glare from his girlfriend. "This summer I flirted with you as a passive aggressive attack against Addie. I thought it would hurt her like she had hurt me. I didn't intend for you to… for anything to happen. We've been together since she's been back. It's my fault you don't know that; I agreed to keeping our relationship a secret. Obviously, I can't do that anymore nor do I want to."

"So you never had any feelings for me?" Elena said slowly, sounding puzzled.

"I lusted after you. It was never anything more than that. It will never be anything more than that. It always has been and always will be Addie."

A resounding _smack_ interrupted the brief silence as Elena's hand made contact with Damon's face. Cursing under her breath, Addie made to go after her sister as she proceeded to stomp down the stairs but something was stopping. Realizing Damon had a tight hold on the back of her shirt she growled, "Let go of me."

"So you can go pick a fight with your sister? Not happening, love," he replied coolly, his grip on the shirt tightening as she struggled to free herself.

"She hit you! She doesn't just get to get away with that."

She broke free of his hold but Damon's arm quickly encircled her waist, pulling her to him until her back was flush against his chest. In her ear he softly hissed, "You don't think I could have stopped her if I wanted?"

They was a very good point. If he could dodge bullets and catch stakes hurdling towards his chest, he could have easily stopped her sister. Bothered by this, Addie grimace, "Why didn't you want to stop her?"

Damon shrugged slightly and answered as a way of explanation, "I was already being a dick."

Addie tilted her head as she studied him as if he were some foreign object. "We apparently have very different definitions of what makes you a dick. I considered that you playing very nicely."

"I didn't have to humiliate her in front of you, Addie."

"Really? Because according to you, I deserved to know the truth," she replied sassily.

"You did. You do," he floundered. "But that didn't mean we need all parties involved for that little chat."

She scoffed, "You call that all parties being involved? _You_ took the blame for the fact that my sister wants to sleep with my boyfriend. Do you recommend I focus my anger from her to you?"

"You could just not be angry and look at it all as one big misunderstanding," Damon suggested hopefully.

Her lips pursed as she pretended to think but then shook her head, slowly concluding, "No, no. My sister, who screwed with my boyfriend's head, then decided she only want him after I had him, then decided that she wanted to sleep with him following our break up definitely warrants me being angry at _someone_. I mean, my natural choice was Elena but if you prefer I be mad at you…." Addie pulled away from him as she fished her keys out of her pocket. "You know, I'm gonna go think about which one of you I should be mad at. "

"Ads, come on," he sighed, catching her hand.

"Don't worry," she grumbled, snatching her hand back. "I already know which one of you I'm pissed at."

Damon's hand shot out to loop a finger through her belt loop. She'd have a slightly more difficult time getting away than if he just simply grabbed at her. Sternly he said, "I'm not going to let you go off and have a fight with your sister."

"I wasn't going to fight her!" she snipped back defensively. Innocently she gave a small smile. "I was just going to take a bat to her car."

He eyed her suspiciously. Normally he'd take that as a face value joke but he wasn't certain when Addie was kidding or being serious when it came to her sister. Damon let go of her and rolled his eyes helplessly. Addie was going to do whatever she wanted. "Try not to do anything I would do. Better yet, don't do anything without thinking. 'Act now, think later' is a hard art form to master," he lectured.

"You don't think I've thought through the whole bat/car plan?"

"On the contrary. I believe you've thought it down to exactly where on the car you want to hit and in what order."

Addie tapped at her lips as she considered him and teased, "You know, you just might be smarter than I give you credit for."

"It's quite possible," Damon agreed.

"Then again you're counting on an old sign to take down a family of Originals. I do have to question your judgment in that. Even more, you've left Stefan and Alaric alone with power tools and your only way of killing Klaus."

"Yeah, I should probably get back in there," he conceded.

"See you later," she promised, swiftly kissing him on the cheek.

* * *

Addie leaned against a tree, a good thirty feet away from where Stefan and Damon performed mock scenario after scenario of possible ways to take down the Originals. It wasn't just Damon and Stefan who were craving vengeance; Elena and Caroline were more than willing to participate. Poor Matt hadn't really been given a choice. Addie supposed that wasn't quite true, though. He could have simply refused to take the stake offered to him, like she had. A very dark look crossed Damon's face when she refused to join in on his little scheme. She wondered just how terrible that fight was going to be.

Damon waved his hand at her, motioning for her to join them. Her turned down slightly as she considered. She shook her head no. She didn't particularly feel like encouraging his suicide mission.

"I just need you stand here," he reasoned.

Picking up a rock about the size of her first, she tossed it in the air and caught it, testing its weight. "If you just need me to stand," she aimed carefully for Damon and let the stone soar. He caught it, just as expected. "You can use a rock. I find they tend to move about less than I do."

"I need a human body for visual representation," Damon countered, tossing the stone back towards her. As it flew five feet to her left she knew he definitely wasn't aiming for her.

"You have four perfectly willing toy soldiers. Five if you count yourself. I'm quite content by my buddy Mr. Tree," she quipped back fondly patting at the tree trunk.

Very seriously he objected to that idea. "They're all playing their roles. I can't _move_ them."

This was actually amusing to him, she realized. He hadn't liked being in the military but he like the idea of mapping out battles and strategizing. Perhaps it was the fleeting image she had of a little boy with eyes as blue as the sky and a mop of unkempt dark locks playing with little green army men that made her give in. Reluctantly she went towards the group.

"Where do you want me?"

"For now, here," he said, taking her by the shoulders and moving her to stand with her back to Matt and Stefan with Caroline and Elena directly in front of her. His voice dropped and whispered suggestively in her ear, "Later, we'll see."

Addie flushed to match her red hair. He might have been quiet enough that Elena and Matt hadn't heard but the other to vampires did. Caroline's judging look of blatant disapproval was clear she had.

"You're Klaus," Damon informed her. "Don't move."

This was why he was going to get himself and everyone else killed. They couldn't take on Klaus! Hadn't the failed enough times to realize that?

"In what universe does Klaus _not_ move upon being ambushed?" Addie demanded pinching the bridge of her nose. She did not want to be involved with this. She did not want the stress. Klaus wasn't worth it.

"He's focused on Caroline and Elena!"

"Enough to disregard his personal safety? I think not."

She could hear the scowl in Damon's voice as he moved behind her, "He doesn't need to focus on them long. All we need is a split second of distraction so I can-" he suddenly had both her wrist in a tight grip behind her back and she could feel something shark poking just to the right of her left scapula.

"Brilliant plan," Addie said brightly. "Except you forgot the part where Klaus does this." It turned out hand-to-hand combat with her boyfriend had come in handy. She was easily able to break out of his hold, twist and turn Damon's wrist so the stake hovered over his own heart.

She grimaced as she felt something jabbing into her back again and heard Stefan remark, "That's when I do this."

Her eyes went wide as she looked up into Damon's. His plan was straight suicidal! As if taking on clause wasn't enough of a tempt at suicide, Damon's actual plan involved Klaus shoving a stake through his heart. Had his other ideas been as stupid? She hadn't been paying close enough attention. It didn't matter.

Snatching the stake from Damon she glowered, "You are not doing this."

He watched her walk off into the woods before grabbing another stake from the duffel bag and using it to point at Matt Donovan, "You're Klaus now."

* * *

Addie stared blankly at the words on her cell phone. She was reading an article on the Northern Lights and solar activity but the words just weren't clicking. She'd read the last sentence four times. It was all Damon's fault. Thoughts of him kept distracting her. Something about his obsession with killing Klaus kept nagging at her.

Killing Klaus, getting revenge against Klaus had always been a constant factor in their relationship since they officially began dating. Addie knew about Damon's obsessive nature and tendencies and so she had accepted his obsession with Klaus as a part of who he was. However, it was odd to think about what their relationship would be like if he wasn't focused on destroying Klaus. Would more of his attention turn towards her? A little more attention from him would be nice but too much and she'd feel suffocated. Without Klaus as a distraction, it was unknown how he would behave. The future of a Klaus-free relationship was distracting but it wasn't the primary thing bothering her.

Damon was going to kill Klaus. Or Klaus was going to kill Damon. The latter seemed far more likely. Even if Damon did succeeded, Klaus wasn't an active threat. He wasn't doing anything to anyone. He hadn't taken anymore of Elena's blood to continue increasing his hybrid army. His hybrids were out of town. He wasn't trying to kill anyone. He wasn't hurting anyone. While Klaus _not_ appearing to be up to something was a suspicious factor, it wasn't enough to warrant killing him, in Addie's opinion. Damon was essentially going after Klaus and all the Originals unprovoked. He was going to kill them in cold blood.

That wasn't particularly new behavior for him, though. He had killed a lot of innocent people. But Addie had never stood by and condoned it. Yes, she'd forgive him for the little outburst of uncontrollable emotions where he decided to just eat people but that was different. He at least tried to fight those impulses. She knew he did it for her. He stuck to blood bags because he knew she wasn't particularly comfortable with his snatch, eat, erase philosophy.

She wasn't just going to let him kill off an entire family that posed no active threat. It would be hypocritical of her to judge Klaus and his family on their past actions when she forgave Damon for his. The Originals posed as a risk factor but that wasn't enough to simply murder them. Damon proved he was beyond a risk factor with his little killing spree in New York.

Lost in thought, Addie didn't hear the door to Damon's bedroom open. Frustration rose in Damon as he saw Addie stretched out on his bed, casually scrolling through her phone. Dropping the duffel bag with extra stakes on the ground he scolded, "You basically ignored me."

Addie looked at him in surprised and had to think for a moment to what he was referring to. "No, I responded. Taking your stake and leaving was a valid response to your request that I pretend to be the guy you want to kill. I played along up until I realized just how incredibly stupid your plan was. I don't want to be involved in your plot to kill the Originals. Responding with an answer you don't like is not the same as ignoring."

"All of this is for you, you know. "

"I know," she placated as she left the bed and moved towards him. It wasn't all for her, though. It was his twisted obsession. If it really was for her, he wouldn't be putting himself and everyone else she cared about in danger just to kill Klaus.

"You're not supposed to be here," he reprimanded, looking down at her as she undid his crossed arms.

Annoyed, she huffed, "Because Klaus might show up? Damon, he has bigger interests than me."

"You don't know that. If he wants to use you in the future, the smart thing to do would be to capture you now. Being in a house that he can get in without any protection makes that extremely easy for him."

Instead of hugging him as she had planned, Addie decided to inspect the duffel bag he'd brought in. If he was just going to lecture her, she wasn't in the mood to be close to him. "I don't want to fight about Klaus with you," she muttered, unzipping the bag. That was one of the few reasons she supported Damon's efforts to kill Klaus. She was tired of him being a source of tension between them.

"Then stop being careless and giving such little regard to your safety," he snapped quickly.

Frowning, she pulled out a White Oak stake. Somehow she thought it's seem special but it looked just like all the other stakes she'd seen in Alaric's collection. It was an ordinary stake, just like the one she had taken from him earlier. She checked to see how sharp it was as she countered, "I'm not going to spend my life walking on eggshells because you're paranoid."

"Paranoid? Are you forgetting that he nearly cleared Jeremy just to make a point?"

"You actually did kill Jeremy because Elena rejected you!" Addie shot back snidely.

Damon rolled his eyes. "He was dead for, like, a second! Klaus made him take off that magical ring before trying to run him down. Then he would have been as dead as a doorknob."

"That's what you intended to do! You got lucky that Jeremy was wearing the ring. Of course, when you killed him you pushed him closer to turning into an insane psycho killer like Alaric."

Unable to argue that point, he demanded, "Why are you protecting Klaus? Why are you defending him?"

"I'm not," she sighed heavily, running her fingers through her hair. "I just don't want you doing this. I don't want you getting hurt."

"I'll be fine," Damon insisted, plucking the stake from her hand.

Addie rolled her eyes as she watched him place the stake in a pile of wood by the fireplace, carefully covering it with the logs. "Did you learn nothing from hiding the moonstone in a bowl of rocks?"

Satisfied it was hidden well enough, he stood back up and smartly shot back, "I learned my girlfriend likes to take very important objects, hide them from me, and allow me to think that doppelgangers are responsible for taking the objects."

"Katherine still went through the bowl of rocks. Had I not taken the stone, she would have," she point out indignantly.

"Not my point. You," he pointed an accusatory finger at her, "still took the rock."

"Not my point," she mimicked, fighting a smile. "Hiding a wooden stake in a pile of wood is obvious and predictable."

"Is not," he muttered. Damon glanced around the room and wondered, "Where's the one you took from me?"

Addie shrugged innocently. "No clue."

"You better be lying and simply trying to annoy me. We can't afford to lose any of the stakes," he warned her.

She opened the top drawer of his dresser and pulled out the stake. Poking him lightly in the stomach with it she said, "Here."

He raised a cool, mocking eyebrow at her. "And you have the nerve to insult my hiding spot?"

"If I was trying to hide it, do you really think I would stick it with your socks, boxers, and whatever drink you fancy as a nightcap? You're constantly in and out of that drawer."

"Fair enough. I want you to keep that, though. The next time you decide to go running to Klaus, try stabbing him instead of cuddling up to him," he grumbled tartly.

"I wouldn't have any reason to go near him if you'd just remind your female companions to keep their clothes on instead of suggesting sex," she retorted. Her voice was too cold for him to believe the sweetness that laced it to be genuine.

"On second thought," Damon remarked, matching her cheery tone, "I'd rather you have absolutely no excuse to go near him."

"Fine by me," Addie muttered as she tossed the stake onto his bed. "You might have everyone else convinced that it's a brilliant idea to drive a stake through Klaus but I'm not."

"Do you have a better suggestion?"

"How about anything but a suicide mission?"

Sardonically he bit back, "Your confidence in me is greatly inspiring."

Quickly Addie pointed out, "When have you _ever_ gotten the better of him? Had the upper hand? You are physically out matched. Mentally, he's just as paranoid as you. He's not going to let his guard down. You have five targets to take him out and you choose to go after the greatest threat? That's just stupid. You killing him is personal, not strategic. If you were playing smart, you'd go out and find Finn! I'm sure he'd gladly drive a stake into his own heart if it meant taking down his siblings. You accuse me of being reckless but I'm not the one blinded by my emotions. You're going to get yourself killed, Damon."

Repeating his words from earlier he maintained, "I'll be fine."

She shook her head in disbelief, scoffing, "You can't be arrogant enough to actually believe that."

"I've got this, Ads. As far as Klaus knows, Rebekah burned up all that was left of the White Oak. He's not going to be expecting me to kill him. This time, I _do_ have the upper hand," Damon reassured her, reaching up to cup her face.

Addie stepped out of his reach, frowning. "If this is just about making sure Klaus is dead, why can't you go after an easier target, like Finn? I'm sure Rebekah would even be more unsuspecting than Klaus."

Slightly petulant, he rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, "What do you want to hear me say? That this is personal about killing Klaus? That I want the satisfaction of seeing the life go out of Klaus' eyes?"

"I understand that's what you want but I don't get why! What's your deal with Klaus that's so big that you have to kill him directly? What's so damaging to your pride that you have to go and risk your life by being stupid?"

Damon ran his finger through his hair as he struggled to find the right words. "The way he is with you, it's not right. It needs to stop."

"How he is with me is my concern, not yours," Addie snapped harshly.

"But you're _not_ acting concerned about it. You're my girlfriend, Ads. It is my concern if he is a threat to you or treats you inappropriately."

She opened her mouth to retort but Damon held up a hand, motioning for her to stay silent. He could hear the front door and floorboards creak ever so slightly. In exasperation he sighed and mumbled to Addie, "This is why you're not allowed here. Someone's in the house."

"And you're automatically certain it's someone evil," she muttered softly. Sarcastically she continued, "You're definitely not paranoid. It's not like it could just be your brother, who happens to live here."

"Stefan's with Alaric," he informed her curtly. Moving to his bedroom door he pleaded, "Just listen to me for once and stay here, please?"

Addie rolled her eyes dramatically and sat down on his bed. His paranoia was getting out of hand. She held her hands up in surrender, agreeing, "Fine."

Damon gave her a strained smile before silently slipping from the room. Addie buried her face in her hands. She always thought Damon's paranoia of Klaus strolling right into the boarding house and attacking was a bit extreme. Damon might be foolish enough to try that with Klaus, and essentially had in his plan with Mikael, but the Original hybrid was not that obvious. She'd never consider either to be stealthy or subtle but there was a certain elegance Klaus had that Damon lacked…. Or perhaps it was just Klaus' accent that made everything he said sound more elegant…. No, Klaus definitely kept an air of mystery about him that Damon didn't. Or was she just better at reading Damon?

Addie gripped at the roots of her hair in frustration. She didn't want to think about Klaus. She didn't want to think about Damon. She just wanted to not think. Why was that so complicated?

She tensed as she heard a loud clatter from downstairs. Apparently Stefan or Damon had done something the other didn't like. When she didn't hear any more sounds of a fight, Addie reconsidered that it was marginally possible that Damon might have been right to have been paranoid for once and someone had come into the house. But who? The whole reason she was ruling out Stefan was because he and Damon were on a similar playing field if they chose to fight and there would have been a lot more noise. There was just one crash, though. That was a pretty short fight. Whoever Damon had fought, he was either a lot weaker or a lot stronger. Though, she wasn't entirely convinced that he hadn't just made up the fact that there was someone in the house so he could simply go and throw something because he was getting annoyed with her. It wasn't like she was particularly pleased with him and his stupid need to kill Klaus, even if it meant getting himself killed in the process.

Addie stretched out on the bed for several more minutes, waiting for Damon to return to the room. When he hadn't come back in half an hour, she decided to scout for him. It was stupid for them to be arguing over Klaus.

"Damon?" she called out, slipping out of his room. When he didn't reprimand her for not staying in the room like he had wanted, she frowned and continued down the hall. She said his name louder as she descended the stairs. Spying the entry table crumpled into a heap of broken wood and the cracks in the wall Addie sighed, placing her hands on her hips, "Lovely."

It was always promising when there were signs of a struggle. She had thoroughly convinced herself the crash she heard before was Damon shattering crystal decanter into the fireplace. She continued to search through the house, checking every room for him. As she checked the cellar, Addie had to conclude that Damon wasn't at the residence. She tried calling his cell phone several times but there was no answer. Seeing his car in the garage she went back to considering whether his paranoia hadn't just been extremely obsessive for once. There was obviously a fight and Addie felt pretty certain it was safe to label him as missing.

Who would want to pick a fight with Damon? Dumb question. Who was brave/stupid enough and strong enough to pick a fight with him? Rolling her eyes and sighing Addie pulled out her cell phone and reluctantly dialed.

"Addison! How wonderful it is to hear from you," Klaus answered cheerily on the second ring. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Where's Damon?" she snapped sharply. Addie frowned as she eerily reminded herself of her mother demanding to know where her laptop was whenever she got grounded.

"How should I know if you don't know?" he challenged innocently.

Addie scowled as she dropped into one of the wing backed chairs in the study. "You're the bad guy. The bad guy always knows things."

"You know, your labels are starting to hurt my feelings," he remarked, feigning disappointment.

"Well, I suppose you could try un-earning a label," she postulated. "You can start by telling me where my boyfriend is."

"Other than the fact that I'm the bad guy, what makes you think I know where Damon is?" wondered Klaus.

Addie snorted; it really wasn't funny that she found her boyfriend being taken as unsurprising. It was just the dark irony that surrounded her world ever since Damon had come into it. "There was an… _incident_ at the boarding house. Suddenly, Damon's disappeared. Now, I'm sure there's a long list of enemies but I thought it would be more logical to go through them based on geographical relativity rather than a specific alphabetical order. You happen to be the closest."

He clicked his tongue and spoke slowly, as if considering her words, "I don't know about that. Have you tried asking the broody vampire he lives with? Elena _did_ fall in love with Damon. I'd hate Damon if I were Stefan. There's also the vampire hating alter ego of his best friend, the ex-vampire hunter, that you should consider. Really, I think those two are far more likely to do damage to Damon than I am."

"You said hearing him speak makes you want to kill him."

"Operative word being _want_. Frankly, darling, Damon's just not worth the effort."

Imaging the stake hidden in the pile of wood upstairs, she smiled slightly. He might be stupid and he might be reckless but he was right; Klaus was letting his guard down if he really thought Damon wasn't worth the effort. She mildly warned, "You're underestimating him."

Klaus gave a harsh bark of laughter, "Rebekah burned all of the old Wickery Bridge. Damon's nothing but a sulky child at this point. He thought he could kill me and now his last possible means of doing so has been destroyed. If he wasn't of use to me in protecting you, I might possibly feel bad enough to kill him out of mercy and put him out of his misery."

"Or he'll just become desperate and team up with the Original Bitch to kill you." A brief silence passed before Addie realized, "I mean the Original Witch Bitch, obviously."

"Yes, because my sister now, also, qualifies as an Original Bitch because she slept with Damon," Klaus clarified. She could visualize his stormy blue eyes rolling at her.

"She _wishes_ she slept with him. Turns out Damon merely suggested the idea of having a threesome and Rebekah and Sage were more than happy to go along with the idea without him," she informed him coolly.

He scoffed, "And Damon was just an innocent bystander? Don't tell me you believe that."

"He may not be as innocent of a bystander as I would approve of," Addie conceded, "but he can't lie to me. He didn't touch either of them."

"So, it's ok and not cheating because you guys weren't _technically_ together and he didn't touch them," snickered Klaus. "I think you're just splitting hairs over what's acceptable behavior because you don't want a valid reason to leave Damon."

Addie's lips pursed as she twisted around in the chair so that her feet were where her head should be and her head dangled upside down. "Isn't the fact that Damon is Damon enough of a valid reason? If you can't leave someone for being a narcissistic, self-serving, sociopathic serial killer what can you leave them for?"

"That would be enough for a _normal_ person but not you. You, darling, are tragically flawed, tragically broken. Your self-esteem is so non-existent that you need someone else to have it for you. For some unfathomable reason, you've decided Damon is that person. Damon can be as deplorable as he wants as long as he doesn't sully his respect for you. You'll make any excuse for his behavior as long as -"

"That's not true," she snarled, cutting him off. "I don't need Damon for self-esteem. What I need from Damon, what I get from Damon, is something you know nothing about. When it comes to love, you know nothing, Niklaus. The self-esteem of a man who daggers his family members out of fear of betrayal can't be that great. You are a proud man but you have no confidence. You don't believe you're worthy of devotion. You fear no one will ever accept you the way I accept Damon," Addie rambled off in anger, surprised by how much her words actually made sense.

Klaus guffawed and sneered, "Your loyalty to Damon is ever wavering. You accept him when the mood suits you. When it strikes your fancy, you betray him and run to his enemy. I have a vast army of hybrids with unquestionable loyalty!"

Yes, his brainwashed army. That was good company for him to keep. Scowling, she snapped, "I called you to find out where my boyfriend is, not a free psychoanalysis. Do you know where Damon is or not?"

"Haven't the foggiest," he answered, quickly reverting to a charming manner.

"Meaning you know."

"Why do you assume I'm lying?"

"Lying is part of the requirements for being a bad guy," Addie emphasized, as if it were obvious.

He made a soft noise of indignation and countered, "I'm taking your advice and trying to get rid of the label."

Running her fingers through her hair until it brushed the floor, she sighed, "So you really don't know?"

"What's in it for me?"

"Little piece of advice, don't try and get something out of everything when you're trying to lose a bad reputation," she grumbled distastefully. Klaus' request wasn't surprising but she hadn't decided on a response. There wasn't much that she could offer Klaus, if he was telling the truth. Of course, he could simply be lying and all she could offer him, the stakes, would be lost for no reason.

"Well that's just boring," he muttered, appalled.

"Yes, well, being labelless can be tedious. Do you know anything about Damon or not?"

Cryptically he answered, "No but I could."

Addie rolled her eyes; she didn't want to play his stupid games. Obligatory she asked, "What do you mean?"

"If you think Damon's gotten himself involved with trouble, it would be a lot quicker for me to use my vast resources to check with the many people who may have an axe to grind with him than it will be for you to call up everyone he's ever met. Besides, bad guys lie. If you simply demand to know if they've seen Damon, you might not get the truth. To get the truth, you need a little force. I can help you find Damon," Klaus offered. Addie couldn't help but feel there was a sleazy edge to his voice.

Firmly she declared, "I don't want anyone getting hurt."

"Even if it meant saving Damon?"

She was beginning to feel dizzy from laying with her head upside down. That was a complex question. She shook her head and said to convince herself, "Damon's not in that kind of trouble. There is no need for force."

"Suit yourself. Spend the next 50 years searching for your lost love."

"I didn't say I didn't want your help," Addie admitted, reluctantly. "I just don't want anyone hurting anyone. _Force_ isn't necessary."

"Fine," Klaus sighed dramatically. "Force makes things faster but we'll do things your way. What do I get out of helping you?"

Annoying, single-minded vampires. She seemed be a magnet to them. "Didn't I just give you advice about that?"

"Yes but this is business, not me being evil. See, the time and resources I use on Damon are valuable. He's -"

"Have you ever heard of just doing something nice for a friend?" Addie interrupted wearily as she sat back up correctly.

The other end of the line was silent for several seconds. Eventually Klaus said, " _Friends_ is a strong word to describe our relationship."

"It's a figure of speech. Are you going to help or not?" she whined, quickly growing frustrated.

"Damon might only be a sullen child now that the White Oak has been destroyed. However, he won't pout for long. Damon will spend eternity looking for a way to kill me. I doubt there's a way but…. You warned me about Damon knowing about the White Oak because you felt I didn't deserve to be blindsided. Can I trust that I won't be blindsided in the future?" he proposed.

Addie felt a chill of disgust run down her spine. Talk about making a deal with the devil. She scoffed bitterly, "You mean tell you when my boyfriend plans on killing you so you can kill him first?"

Klaus considered this before reasonably presenting, "What if I offer not to kill Damon unless he comes after me? You know, like self-defense."

Her nose scrunched up in distaste. She didn't fancy the idea of being forever in Klaus' debt. What if he actually did do something he deserved to die for? Carefully she worded, "Fine. The next time Damon comes to kill you, I'll tell you if you help me find him. I feel like since it's you I should also mention that I want him found alive."

"I figured that. So, you'll only guarantee telling me the _next_ time he tries to kill me?" he caught, mulling over words.

"It will be a heads up on more than Damon," she admitted, trying not to give too much away. "One warning for a little bit of your time is more than a fair trade."

"So, there's already something planned?"

"Are you going to help me find Damon?"

Klaus was silent for a few minutes as he contemplated. "I've decided that I'm going to find Damon to satisfy my own curiosity. Whether or not I tell you if I've found him depends on if your information is valuable enough."

"I never said I had information," Addie said, too quick and innocent.

"And you never said you didn't. You tell me what's already planned and I'll tell you where Damon is."

Incredulously she exclaimed, "So you _do_ know where he is!"

"No but I'm going to find out," he replied. Addie could imagine the smug, taunting smile on his face.

Having a feeling he had ended the call, Addie checked to see if they were still connected. Klaus had, indeed, hung up on her. There was something about Klaus that was particularly irksome. However, she did feel a little more at ease. There was no doubt in her mind that he would definitely find Damon, assuming Damon didn't simply show back up at the boarding house first, which he probably would. Damon's overprotectiveness and paranoia was apparently contagious.

"What happened here?" called a disgruntled voice through the house.

Addie scrambled out of the chair and into the hall to join Stefan, who gave her an accusatory glare. Throwing her hands up defensively she said, "Don't look at me. That," she gestured to the broken table and cracked wall, "is the work of your brother and some unknown party."

Obviously exasperated, Stefan over enunciated each word, "Unknown party?"

"I have no clue who. Damon heard someone come into the house, got all paranoid, made me stay in his room while he played the hero, and there was a crash. When I came down thirty minutes later no body was here," Addie explained dismissively, trying to appear much less concerned than she felt.

Stefan's brows furrowed, bother by this information he asked, "Have you tried calling him?"

"He didn't answer. But it's Damon; he's probably out burying the body of whoever it was," she shrugged. She didn't exactly want Stefan _and_ Klaus searching for Damon. If they ran across each other, it was unlikely the encounter would end up pretty.

He was interrupted from responding by the ringing of his phone. He held up a finger, signaling for Addie to hold on as he answered, "Hey, Elena….I just got home. Why?... Ex-girlfriend? Guy's been in a coffin for the last 900 years."

Rapidly, pieces clicked together in Addie's brain as she listed to the one end of the conversation. Damon had told her how Rebekah knew to burn the wood from the old Wickery bridge. Sage had slipped into his mind during their sexy shower scene. Sage didn't want Damon killing the Originals because she had some obsession with Finn, who was stuck in a box for 900 years. Frantically she tugged at Stefan's arm and hissed, "It's Sage."

Stefan's green eyes widen, dread briefly flickering in them. "Listen to me, Elena," he commanded. "Do not do anything, ok? Sage is a very old and very powerful vampire. You stand no chance against her."

As Stefan spoke, Addie's phone had begun to buzz. She checked the screen before slipping outside. Quickly she walked over to her Jeep and got in it, starting the engine as an extra measure. Right before it went to voicemail she answered, "An update already?"

"Didn't I say I could find out faster than you," Klaus remarked superiorly.

Addie waited for him to elaborate but when it was clear that he wasn't going to she pushed, "So, what did you find out?"

"Well, all I really had to do was ask my sister as to where he was."

"You knew all along, didn't you?" she accused loudly, irritation nagging at her.

"I had my suspicions but I didn't actually know anything," he said coolly. "If you want your boyfriend back, I suggest you tell me what plan he is up to, otherwise I'll let Rebekah keep him chained up in bear traps. See, she gets quite vindictive when she is used."

Addie sighed heavily, resting her head on the steering wheel and running her fingers through her hair. The dark red strands fell around her face as if to shield her from the outside world. Surely Klaus was exaggerating about Rebekah having Damon in bear traps, though, she could see her friend doing something that extreme. Damon would be livid if she told Klaus about the stakes and the plan though. There was only one way to win both sides and it required precise timing.

Softly into the phone she said, "Give me a little while to think about it."

"I wouldn't take too long. She'd bleeding him of vervain to compel him. There's no telling what she'll make him do," Klaus warned, before hanging up on her again.

The engine of her car shut off as she got out and went back into the house. Telling Klaus Damon kept a bit of White Oak wasn't going to be enough to help him get Damon from Rebekah. A crossed Rebekah played mean and dirty. She'd do whatever the hell she wanted with Damon unless the one person she feared told her not to. Addie was going to have to pay big if she wanted Klaus to help her free Damon. _Handing over stakes_ big. Damon would not be happy about that. Though Addie sincerely doubt he was very fond of being Rebekah's play thing.

"Was that Damon?" pounced Stefan, as soon as she walked in the door.

The corners of her lips twitched slightly as she considered, "In a way."

He eyed her warily as he was eerily reminded of his brother. They spent far too much time together. "What's that mean?"

"The good news is that I found him. The bad news is that Rebekah's having her kinky way with him. I mean, even as a torture device I don't see the appeal of bear traps but whatever floats your boat. Who am I to judge?" Addie tacked on mindlessly, giving a small shrug to indicated that she didn't really care about what other people did. Remembering her point, she refocused, "The better news is that I have a plan. The slightly less bad news is that you have to be as crazy suicidal about this revenge plot against Klaus as my neurotic boyfriend."

Stefan frowned thoughtfully. "What are you thinking?"

"You're having my sister follow Finn and Sage, yeah?"

"Obviously."

"Lure them into a fight. Stake Finn and the rest of the Originals go down and Damon's freed," Addie proposed.

Stefan shook his head. "No, it's too risky. It's broad daylight. They're in the middle of town. We couldn't do it without being seen."

Addie crossed her arms and scowled, "Then how do you suggest we save Damon?"

"Damon's not the issue right now. We're sticking to the original plan; see an opportunity and take it. We'll worry about Damon after we take down the Originals," Stefan said decisively.

An angry heat flared up in her cheeks. He was just as thick-headed as Damon. Inhaling sharply she sternly corrected him, "No, you're sticking to the original plan. I'm saving Damon. I'm not going to just sit by and let Rebekah torture him while you wait for the perfect moment to attack. He doesn't deserve to go through that!"

"You know what he would want!" he snapped back, his volume slightly elevated, just as hers had been by the time she'd finished.

Rolling her eyes, Addie laughed humorlessly, "I don't care about what he _wants_. He doesn't care about what I _want_. We both do whatever the hell we want to do. That's just how our fucked up, dysfunctional relationship works."

With that, she left him, storming upstairs and into Damon's room. The door was quickly shut and locked behind her. If Stefan wasn't going to play by her rules, than she didn't want him catching on to her plan because he would definitely try to stop it. Addie grabbed the duffel bag Damon had brought home with him and scoured through it. Matt, Alaric, Caroline, Stefan and Elena all had a stake, leaving five in the bag and the one on the bed made six. She wasn't going to be able to get Stefan's stake but Klaus didn't know how many stakes there were, so it shouldn't be a problem.

Reluctantly, she called the person she knew would choose saving Damon over the plan.

"What do you want?" Elena answered, irritation lacing her voice.

"I need your help." Quickly she added, "Before you say no, you should know that it's for Damon?"

Snidely her sister retorted, "You mean the guy that loves _you_?"

Guilt twisted Addie's stomach in knots. In a small voice she said, "I know that doesn't change how you feel about him. Elena, Rebekah has him."

* * *

Addie was feeling fairly confident about her plan to rescue Damon as she knocked on Alaric's door for the second time that day. Silver tongued Elena had easily convinced Matt and Caroline to give her their White Oak stakes. Addie had been half expecting some kind of blackmail from Elena to get the three stakes from her but she had just met Addie and handed them over without saying a word. Apparently they weren't speaking to each other, which was fine with Addie.

"Hey," greeted Alaric, opening the door with a big smile on his face. He moved to the side and gestured for her to enter.

Her thumbs tucked into the pockets of her jeans as she went in. She always felt kind of awkward when she was alone with Alaric. Maybe it was the fact that he essentially killed her. Maybe it was that she'd seen her history teacher post-coitus with her aunt, in his boxers eating Chunky Monkey. Maybe it was how he was stepping in as some pseudo-guardian. And while she knew they didn't go into deep details, maybe she was uncomfortable around Alaric because he was Damon's best friend and their relationship _was_ a topic of conversation.

"So, this plan of yours-"

"This isn't a social visit. If you're going to try and talk me out of it, save your breath," Addie interrupted defensively.

Alaric nodded understandingly as he leaned back against the counter, crossing one foot in front of the other. In a tone of civil neutrality he replied, "I'm just making sure you can handle it."

"Well… I'm handling an active grenade. As long as I don't pull the pin out and piss it off, I should be fine," she retorted smartly.

"If you won't let me go for you, I think you should let me go with you," he argued. "It's what Damon would want."

"No," Addie drew out slowly, "Damon wouldn't want me doing this at all. He'd want me sitting in a corner while everyone else got themselves killed trying to stake an Original"

"Alright, well, he'll kill me if I let you go in alone."

Addie rolled her eyes as she moved in closer to Alaric, "Isn't this exactly what you've both been training me for? How to take on a vampire on my own. Odds are that if I go alone, it won't come to a fight. I bring you and your arsenal and it will. I'd be in more danger if you came with me."

"It's Klaus; you're in danger either way. You need someone to protect you," he countered.

"Why? Because you guys are crappy teachers and all the ass kicking and mock scenarios have just been for fun? Why bother training me against vampires if you don't think I can handle it? Was it all just to humor Damon?" she demanded. It irritated Addie how incompetent everyone thought her.

Alaric took two steps towards her and curiously inquired, "Do you even feel bad about what you're doing?"

"No," she answered without hesitation, "I'd betray Damon's plan if it meant saving him every time."

"You should feel bad about saving _any_ vampires."

The octave drop in his tone was her first clue something was amiss. It was just enough of a warning for Addie to spring back on her toes as Alaric lunged for her. The knife he'd whipped from behind his back slashed through air, slightly upsetting his balance but he was quick to recover. She turned to run for the door but he was able to reach out just enough to catch her wrist and yank her back, making her almost stumble into the knife.

"Let's see how good a teacher I am. You escape, my self-defense training worked, at least against a human. You die, I finally teach you not to play with vampires," Alaric taunted, twisting her arm and bending it behind her back.

Addie curled the hand of her free arm into a fist and decided to turn into Alaric, before he popped her shoulder out of place. She was so short that the only decent place to land a punch was right under his jaw. The sound of his teeth clashing together made her cringe. Her wrist, which he had twisted up, he sharply snapped down. Addie's vision went fuzzy as a white-hot, searing pain radiated the length of her arm. Not letting go of her arm, Alaric reached across her to turn her back to him again. Figuring the pain couldn't get much worse, Addie tore her arm from his hold and threw her palm up under the elbow of the arm reaching across her. She didn't hear a _pop_ but his hand was ripped from her shoulder. While she had managed to get his hand off her, Addie had forgotten about the knife he was holding, which tore through her shirt and left a three inch gash at the top of her shoulder. It was a dirty move but she brought up her knee and slammed it into his groin. Damon always said only losers fight clean. While Alaric didn't topple over in pain, he was stunned long enough for her to make it to the door.

She didn't stop sprinting until she was in the car, when she finally looked back to see if Alaric had followed, which he hadn't. Her left arm still throbbed in pain so she rubbed at the stitch in her right side as she gulped down air. She was fairly certain she'd just broken a personal record for track.

Addie leaned back against the headrest and laughed through choked back sobs. Of course she would get Alaric psycho killer alter ego. His typical self had tried to kill her. His crazy self was definitely going to try. That was one stake she was not getting back. She glanced down at the sleeve of her shirt. Prior to visiting Alaric it had be white, not blood red. Nor did she have a gaping gash. Nor was the elbow of her left arm swollen up to the size of a softball. Even if she changed and figured out some kind of bandage for the continuously weeping wound, it would be obvious that she had been in a struggle. She didn't have time to try and make a cover up about one less stake. If Klaus wanted Alaric's he could get it himself. Addie was fairly certain that Klaus would agree to ten stakes. For her. If she pouted and begged. She might have to work up a few tears.

* * *

Addie strained to hear sounds of horror as she waited for someone to answer the door at Klaus's manor but it seemed as normal and superfluous as ever.

When Klaus opened the door, Addie notice the quick look of surprise on his face. As charming as always he beamed, "Addison! It's wonderful to see you. Although you look a little…."

"Like crap? Yeah. I ran into a little trouble while collecting your payment. I'm here to deal," she replied curtly, holding up the duffle bag in her right hand. Her shoulder burned with the movement but it was a lot less painful than whatever was wrong with her left arm.

Klaus ushered her in and quickly guide her with a hand on the small of her back to a small study off on the right side of the foyer. It wouldn't do to have her see Damon in the hall just to left of the foyer.

"Want me to heal those up for you?" he offered as he shut the door behind them.

Addie hesitated briefly. She had no doubt of her answer but the fact that he would even ask was shocking and appalling. She wanted things to go smoothly so she tried not to sound too insulted, "No, thanks. I have my own vampire for all my healing needs."

"Well, it's gonna be a while before Damon can heal as he needs to do some healing of his own first," Klaus said coolly. "Though, maybe he will heal you first. Isn't suffering for the other basically what you guys do?"

"I don't recommend trying to understand our relationship. I barely understand it. Now, I tell you what's being planned and you make Rebekah give Damon back _now_. Right?" Addie said briskly. She wanted to get this over with before Klaus changed his mind and to stop Damon's suffering.

Klaus nodded.

"You better not double cross me because you really owe me tenfold for this. In fact, when Damon kills me for doing this, I'm going to come back and haunt you" she grumbled, unzipping the duffel back. She pulled out a stake and handed it to Klaus to inspect. "Rebekah burned the bridge but she didn't burn the original sign. With the last of the White Oak Damon fashioned eleven stakes. Nine more are in this bag."

"That only adds up to ten," he said curtly as he rifled through the bag and counted for himself.

"Yeah, Alaric's alter ego decided he wanted to kill me when I tried to get his stake." She tried to play on his ego and make no big deal of it, "I figured you could get one measly stake from one pathetic human. I'm, like, 99% certain it's hidden in his apartment."

Klaus gave her a cool, calculating look. "How do I know you're not lying just to save Damon?"

"That's exactly why I wouldn't lie. If I lied to you, you'd kill him." Guilt ate a hole in her stomach as she thought about Stefan's twelfth stake. Klaus wouldn't _really_ kill Damon….

He continued watching her intently.

Addie wished she could cross her arms but there was no way she was getting her left arm to bend that much. Instead she settled for exhaling loudly and rolling her eyes dramatically. "Look, Damon gave everyone and their brother a stake and told them the plan was see an opportunity on any Original and take it. I just got back all these stakes and the way I see it, I'm saving your entire family's ass. All one of them had to do was call up Finn and ask him to be a kabob."

"You didn't get me all the stakes," he said coldly.

"No. Getting the stakes wasn't in our deal. Our deal was for me to tell you what was _planned_. I went above and beyond because I don't think you guys deserve to be treated like pigs in a slaughter house. Now, be a man of your word and give me Damon," she retorted sharply.

Klaus nodded and motioned for her to follow him. The first thing she saw was Rebekah, wiping her hands on a towel, all of which were blood free. That was a good sign.

"Addie?" the other girl said in confusion. "What are you doing here?"

Before Klaus could answer, Klaus jumped in, "Afraid your time with Damon has been cut short, little sister. Addie's paid to have him back."

"Nik, he's my plaything not yours! You can't decide that," whined Rebekah.

"He's a _person_ , not some toy," Addie snapped.

Addie came to an abrupt halt as the hole of guilt was suddenly overflowing and threatening to make it's way up her throat. She had seen Klaus and Stefan do far worse to people but this was Damon, _her Damon._ On the ground was a clear tarp to protect the flooring but most of it was covered in pools of blood. His shirt was mostly undone and there wasn't an inch of skin that wasn't stained red all the way up to his neck. His arms were extended up into the air so that they made a "V" and that was the most gruesome sight. Razor sharp teeth of bear traps clamped into his wrist, keeping the wounds open, preventing him from healing. The sleeves of his shirt had been rolled back and rivulets of dark blood were visible, the wounds actively weeping. His head bowed forward, as if the effort of holding it up was just too much and all she could see of his face was one cheek, far paler than usual. The only thing that convinced Addie that Damon was still alive was the fact that his knees hadn't buckled….And he wasn't human; he couldn't die from exsanguination.

She tried to move past Klaus to free him but he held an arm out in front of her, blocking her. Emotionless and detached he told her, "Not so fast. I'm not going to just free him on your word alone."

Addie turned her attention from Klaus to Rebekah as the hybrid walked over to Damon. Klaus was going to do whatever he wanted; the best she could do was yell at Rebekah. "How the hell could you do this to him?"

"He used me," the blonde shrugged. "Tit for tat."

"He didn't torture you! He didn't hurt you! He led you on! You can't tell me you haven't led a guy on before! I've seen you do it! None of them ever tortured you! And you're supposed to be my _friend_. Friends don't sleep with other friends' love interests," Addie vented furiously. Damon wasn't the only one she was upset with over the whole three-way situation.

"Like any of those guys could torture me," Rebekah smirked. "You weren't using Damon. A guy like him needs to be used, He was going to sleep with someone else sooner or later."

Addie opened her mouth for a rebuttal when a cry of pain of pain reached her ears. Damon was dragging his wrist through the traps, making the gouges in his skin deeper. Klaus' lips had curled in satisfaction. "Stop it!" Addie demanded, rushing over to the men. "The deal was no one gets hurt; that includes Damon."

"Alright, you can stop," Klaus said, waving his hand disinterestedly at Damon. At Addie's scornful look he explained, "I had to make sure the vervain was out of his system."

Damon's head drooped again but his eyes turned up enough to glare at Addie. She was almost intimidated by the ice cold rage glistening in them. Addie was surprised when Klaus moved to free Damon.

"Turns out you didn't lie to me. Eleven stakes and your psychotic friend has the last one," he commented as he pressed down on the springs of the trap on Damon's right arm, freeing him.

Addie rushed to Damon side as the entire right side of of his body slumped forward. He groaned in agony as his left wrist had to suffer more of his weight. She ducked under his arm so it draped over her shoulders. She bit her lip and her eyes watered as Damon's left arm was released and she had to quickly wrap her arm around his waist to support him. The cut from Alaric added an acute stabbing to the constant throbbing when she moved her arm too much in any given direction.

"Nik!" Rebekah whine before storming off.

He waved a hand towards the foyer as he dismissed them, "Our deal is done. You're free to go."

Addie tried to walk away but Damon didn't budge. Encouragingly she whispered to him, "Come on." She tried again but he still didn't move. It seemed to be taking all of his strength, just to remain upright. "A little help?" she asked Klaus snidely; it would just be one more thing for Damon to bitch about later.

"My deal was to give Damon back to you. I never promised I'd help get him home," Klaus retorted before walking off down the hall.

She waited until Klaus had disappeared before trying again. "Come on, Damon," she urged, pulling him closer so that more of his weight rest against her, which unfortunately included her cut. His limp left hand kept brushing against her swollen elbow, making it sear. She tried to move again but Damon wouldn't move. Addie took a deep breath, the tangy, metallic scent of blood making her stomach churn and looked up into Damon's face. His skin was nearly translucent, his lips faded. If it wasn't for the storm of wrath brewing in his light blue eyes he would look like a corpse. For once his anger was a comfort; Damon was alive.

He was wrong if he believed he had exclusive ownership over being pissed off. Through gritted teeth Addie hissed, "You are not the only one that's hurt. I know you're probably not in a mood to heal me, so I need medical treatment. Problem is that I can't get any until I know your ass is ok. Not moving because you want to act like a stubborn child and dig your heels into the ground to show how angry you are is not something I can deal with right now. Act like a reasonable adult long enough for us to get out of here. Now, _come on_."

Addie swallowed hard as bile rose at the sound of Damon's shoes as he shuffled along on the tarp. The was a squelching sound as his shoes slipped through _his_ blood. She focused back on the marble floors, trying to block out everything that reminded her of Damon's blood and pain. As they moved he relied more on her for support making her knees quake as she fought to keep them from buckling at the pain. A third of the way to the door. Halfway to the door. They only had a quarter left when Damon stumbled. Addie was able to keep him from falling down but not without crying in pain as tears flooded her eyes. She had to use her left arm to catch him and her elbow did not appreciate that.

At the sound of her gasp, Damon screwed his eyes shut, blacking out his sub-par vision and focusing on sensing Addie. It was so hard. He was so damn infuriated with her. He didn't even want to be near her. The lasting he wanted was her help but Addie needed his and that's all that mattered.

Draining a vampire of blood had a similar effect to desiccation. Vampire eyesight was equal to that of raptors and eight times more powerful than a human's; in his current condition Damon doubted he could tell a fine distinction between the grass and the road if he tried to drive. His sense of smell, on the other hand, was magnified in his dehydrated state. Addie's blood always smelled intoxicatingly sweet but it was overwhelming. She was covered in blood; he had made out the stain on her shirt. It was only when he fell against her and felt the cloth of his shirt quickly warm as it absorbed her blood that he realized she was actually bleeding. His hearing was barely equivalent to a human's; it wasn't strong enough for him to access anything about her heart or breathing. He couldn't tell how much blood she loss. He could just hear soft whimpers of pain.

Damon reached into the deepest part of his heart to find the strength to get Addie to safety. Addie always came first. She was his priority. What was it all worth if he couldn't save her? She defied him, betrayed him. Still, it was all for Klaus. Klaus made some deal with her. Klaus was responsible for her being injured. Addie had gotten into some kind of trouble the Damon wasn't able to save her from because Klaus had manipulated her into a life threatening situation. Damon was sure as hell going to kill whoever hurt Addie, but he was going to put Klaus through a world of misery before he finally killed him. Klaus had played on her innocent, good-hearted nature and got her hurt. It was one thing when Klaus was playing the sensitive, studly pool boy with a strong shoulder to cry on to try and win Addie but if he wanted to be the rich prince of maleficence, that was another thing entirely.

Bolstered on blinding rage, he did his best to straighten back up on his own. He lightly squeezed the bicep of Addie's uninjured arm when he was ready to move again.

"Ow," she accidentally blurted out. The pain from her elbow was radiating the length of her arm and his touch, though gentle, only exacerbated it. Still, Addie was trying to be as strong and supportive as possible, which meant not showing signs of weakness. Damon was weak enough for both of them. And they were in enemy territory, vulnerable. Quickly Addie said, "Let's go."

They trekked on sluggishly in pain but neither dared to stop until they reached the passenger side of Addie's car. It was hopefully far enough away that Klaus wouldn't be able to eavesdrop on them from inside the house. Damon leaned against the Jeep to support his weight and held out his bloody wrist to Addie. Almost simultaneously she held her's up for him.

Addie shuddered and struggled to keep from vomiting as her boyfriend's mangled wrist was shoved under her nose. _Mangled_. His wrist was still gouged open and oozing dark red blood. She could hide the panic and concern in her voice as she pointed out, "You're not healing."

Damon's lips pressed into a thin line as he didn't respond immediately. He wanted to just ignore her but the fear in her voice hurt him worse than the bear traps. "Vervain on the traps. It just needs to be rinsed off. I'll be fine," he mumbled. When Addie just looked at him doubtfully he snapped, "Drink."

She scoffed and rolled her eyes, "Damon, you can barely stand up. You're nuts if you think I'm letting you lose anymore blood."

"But you expect me to drink from you?" he retorted sharply, his eyes flashing to the wrist she kept moving closer to his mouth.

"Yes," she said simply. "I don't look like death personified; you do."

"You're bleeding, Addie. You need to be healed," he grumbled. He didn't have the strength to argue this with her because she wanted to be ridiculous.

"I can wait. You need your blood more than I need it at this moment," she told him gently, continuing to use obvious logic rather than resorting to fighting.

"You are in _pain_."

"So are you."

Trying to appear stronger than he felt, Damon used the car to push himself up straighter. "I'm not feeding from you, Ads."

"I'm not moving until you do," she quipped back, not caring if she sounded like a petulant child. Logic didn't work if he decided to engage in a power struggle, anyways.

Damon nodded in agreement. "Fine. I'll grow stronger as I heal, at least a little. And you'll grow weaker as you bleed out. Then I'll just force you to drink my blood."

Unable to argue with reason she jutted out her lower lip and mumbled, "That's not nice."

"No but I'm not going to let my girlfriend die because she wants to be stubborn."

Addie lowered her wrist from his face. She wanted to run her fingers through her hair but she knew the movement would hurt. She worrying at her lip as she thought. Eventually she decided to just take him back home. As she walked to the other side of the car she remarked, "Just remember that's exactly why I did this; I wasn't going to let my boyfriend die because he wanted to be stubborn."

* * *

Addie's comment had only left a thick tension between them. In the car, the matter of who was being healed first wasn't momentarily a non-issue, leaving them with the elephant in the room - Addie had given away their means to kill Klaus. Damon was so livid he couldn't even come up with the words to begin arguing with her. Addie simply wasn't going to approach the topic unless he did. Sixteen years of avoiding her problems had worked; she didn't see a reason to pick that particular moment to change her strategy.

As Addie was unbuckling her seatbelt, Damon spoke up as he presented his wrist to her again, "Drink. Go home."

"I get that you're mad at me but I'm not drinking from you or going home until I see that you're healed," she replied, just as coolly.

"Drink," he repeated sternly. Frostily he informed her "I won't be offering again as I am no longer talking to you."

Her eyebrows briefly shot up in surprise before she remembered who she was dealing with. Damon was not known for being the most grown-up person. It was questionable whether her whining and pouting or his silent treatment was more mature.

"Lucky for me there's these magical people called doctors who can heal me," Addie retorted as she got out of the car. She briefly watched him to make sure he could manage on his own. When it was clear he could, she-offhandedly remarked, "Of course, there's no shortage of vampires that would be willing to heal me. And a certain hybrid."

Damon scowled after her as she marched to the house. That was simply an obvious attempt to annoy him. And it worked. Why wouldn't she just let him heal her and go home? Was she trying to start a fight to get the inevitable over with? He didn't _know_ how to verbally express how he was feeling. While he couldn't find the right label for it, he felt similar to how he did after the initial shock of realizing Katherine wasn't in the tomb had set in. He'd handle that with a lot of meaningless sex and a lot more alcohol. Somehow he doubted that would work with Addie.

"Can you please just go get in the shower," she softly pleaded as he followed her into the house. "I just can't take the sight and smell of you covered in blood."

Addie felt a wave of relief when he didn't argue and just headed upstairs. In the kitchen Addie picked up three blood bags; it was the most she could carry in one hand. Her next stop was the study. The alcohol Damon kept in crystal decanters were his typical drinks. The ones he kept bottled in the liquor cabinet were for special occasions. On the mend from being drained of blood definitely fell into that category. Addie reached for one of his better burbourns when pain burned through her arm; she forgot about her elbow. A single tear leaked out but she quickly dropped the blood bags to brush it away. She couldn't cry. Not now. If she let the pain make her cry then she would have to cry about it all. She couldn't handle her mind replaying images of Damon chained up, the sound of his pain, seeing him so weak. She just wanted to forget all about it.

As the pain subsided, Addie was able to focus on her immediate problem. She couldn't use her left hand.

After a quick glance around the room gave no other inspiration, Addie used her teeth to grab the very edges of the blood bags. Ugh. Nothing but love could have her handling blood in such a manner. She could help but roll her eyes at the ridiculous things she did for Damon as went to his bedroom.

As soon as she could she dropped the blood bags on the bed. She jumped in surprise when she turned around to find Damon standing the doorway of the bathroom, still clothed except for his shoes. "What are you doing? You're supposed to be in the shower," snapped Addie, annoyed that he had startled her. The water was running, after all.

His head tilted slightly as he moved towards her, considering whether he was going to answer. No. Addie knew he was upset. If he started venting, she'd start defending herself and become even more convinced that she was right. He hadn't gotten through to her with arguing. Perhaps silence would be deafening, though.

"You know, that was meant for _after_ you take your medicine," Addie lectured as he took the bourbon from her, uncorked it and downed half the bottle in one swallow. She gave him a pointed look and held out a blood bag as he peer at her over the bottle. He cocked a challenging eyebrow and took a defiant gulp, leaving a quarter of the bottle left. Rolling her eyes she tossed the blood back onto the bed. And conceded, "Fine. I get it. You're a big boy. Will you _please_ go take a shower? Seeing you all banged up is distressing. So, unless your intention is my mental anguish…"

He exhaled loudly as he screwed the cap back onto the bottle and discarded it on his bed. She could be so dramatic. He couldn't look half as bad as he had when he need her to practically drag him out of Klaus'. Damon placed one hand on the small of her back as he pressed the insole of his foot against the back of her shoe and gently kicked at the front with his other. Addie knew what he was implying and he knew she was about to make a smartass retort. He didn't want to deal with that when he couldn't make smart comments right back at her. His scowl successfully deterred Addie from saying thing and she stepped out of a blue low-top Converse and then a red low-top Converse. Hell if he knew why her shoes didn't match; it was something she had started while he was in New York. He nudged at her socks and she toed those off as well.

The confusion was plain on Addie's face. Damon gave her a dark, provocative smirk as he gently tugged on the front of her shirt and slowly walked backwards into the bathroom. He was making his intentions clear. He was giving her every opportunity to back out. He wasn't Klaus.

While Damon Salvatore hardly needed any pretext to lure his girlfriend into a shower, he figured a desire to see to her physical health and comfort was a nobler cause than most. His vision had improved enough for him to get a halfway decent look at the cut, sort of. The plain white v-neck she wore was two sizes too big and had probably come from her brother's closet. The sleeve fell to almost her elbow but starting from the middle of the bicep to where the shoulder began to curve there was a clean tear in the fabric. It looked like it was made in one movement with something very sharp as there were no signs of hesitation or fraying. The entire sleeve was saturated with blood. From what he could tell, the shirt had settled so that the extra fabric of the sleeve was covering her injury, sopping up blood. Pulling bloody clothes off was never particularly comfortable and it was downright painful if it was being peeled off wounds. Things were always easier when stuff got slippery.

Addie's face turned as scarlet as blood stained shirt as she followed him into the shower. Her eyes fell to his feet; they were a safe zone with no blood contamination. When she saw him open the shower door and step in fully clothed, she looked up at him, puzzled. While still alluring and suggestive, his grin was much less dark than initially. There was a nervous, tickling sensation just beneath her rib cage as she followed him in, uncertain of his intention but knowing she trusted him.

Damon had been shielding most of the spray from the four shower heads with his back to keep from soaking the bathroom but as she joined him he stepped fully under the hot stream. When he could finally catch Addie's elusive dark blue eyes he held up both his hands in clenched fist. He made a point of showing her the water wash his wounds clean. Bright red water running down his forearms eventually turned clear. He doubted Addie was aware of that she got a crease between her eyebrows as they pulled together when she concentrated or how the corners of her lips turned upward for the briefest moment as he quickly twisted his heels wrist around as proof that he was fine. That wasn't good enough for her; Addie had to critically scrutinize every bit of skin on each one. While seeing her so concerned made him feel loved and special, he still didn't like to see her upset.

"No!" Addie exclaimed, dropping the wrist she was examining to catch the one he was moving towards his mouth. She tried not to react to the stabbing pain that shot through her shoulder at the movement. "Damn it, Damon," she huffed in exasperation. "You _just_ healed. Give yourself a minute to get some strength back."

His shouldered squared as he straightened up and pierced her with his most approving look. She snorted; she didn't need him to speak to get that he thought that she was being ridiculous. It didn't matter. As if explaining to a small child why they couldn't have cookies for every meal Addie slowly said, "If you bite yourself, you are just going to lose that blood. I know it's a small a mount and you'll heal right back up but you look like shit still."

Addie briefly humored him by participating in his stare down of wills. Her eyes stung as droplets of water fell into them and she quickly ended the game in favor of blinking. It wasn't like she had anything to lose. She couldn't resist rolling her eyes and shaking her head at just how childish he was being with the silent treatment. He growled in frustration, pushing the dark, wet locks off of his forehead. The movement caused his shirt to shift, exposing a patch of skin that was still red.

Horrified, she quickly made work off the few buttons Rebekah hadn't cut off and frantically exclaimed, "Get this - get this thing off! You still have blood on you!"

Taken aback by the raw fear he heard in her voice, Damon broke his vow of silence to make soothing hushing sounds as he helped her take off the black garment. It landed on the floor with a wet _smack_ that echoed off the bathroom walls. He wasn't sure why she cringed at the sound as she stared at his bared chest. He checked to see what was so awful but the only blood that was left was a small smudge just above the waistband of his jeans on his left hip. Damon easily wiped it away.

"Addie, I'm _fine_ ," he reassured her, cupping her face in both hands and tilting it up. He inhaled sharply as he met her eyes, wide with fear and pain and grief, filled with tears that would down her cheeks, trying to disguise themselves as water droplets. He'd never understand how her looks could hurt him more than actual torture. "Ads, don't," he pleaded, using his thumbs to brush the tears away.

"You _don't_ ," she bit back, her voice cracking. Her vision blurred as the tears came more rapidly. It felt like her lungs were constricting, only allowing for the shallowest of breaths. Despite the hot water raining down on her from every direction, a chill ran through her. Addie could feel her heart slamming into her rib cage, trying to burst out of her chest. She was losing control of her emotions.

Damon frowned, at a lost as to why Addie was starting to have an anxiety attack. He leaned against the wall, the tiles cool against his back and slid a hand to the small of Addie back and pulled her with him. He kept his hand there as he nestled her between his legs, keeping her close as his other hand slipped from her face and into her hair, keeping her face tilted up at him. Trying to distract her from whatever terror going on in her head he questioned, "I don't what?"

"Yo-you… you… you," Addie choked out struggling to catch her breath, "you don't get… get to _die_." A sob wrecked through her but she managed to get a giant gasp of air. Her anger began to replace her dread. "You've lived nearly 170 years. You don't get to die on me now. Everyone else, they're human, they're fragile. You're a _vampire_. I'm not supposed to have to see you dead," she said accusingly, tears streaming down her face.

"I'm-"

" _No!"_ she protested vehemently. "You don't get to say your fine or that you're ok. You didn't care if killing Klaus meant you got killed! You're a selfish _dick._ You didn't care that I didn't want you doing it! You didn't care about anything but _protecting_ me from Klaus!" Addie ranted furiously. Her voice dropped as she curled her finger around the back of his neck, ignoring the pain in her arm, "Nothing he could do to me could compare to the pain of losing you. I love you, Damon."

Addie was right, once again. He had been so caught up in killing Klaus that he hadn't listened to her. He hadn't really considered _why_ she didn't want him going after Klaus. His lips tenderly caressed hers. Addie leaned into the kiss more insistently. It was comforting to feel his lips move in a familiar, reassuring manner against hers. He really was alive and safe; she just had to keep him that way. Something wet brushed against his cheek, which wouldn't be unusual for a shower except for the fact that they were out of the water's spray; Addie still had to be crying. Damon contemplated breaking off the kiss and talking to her but she didn't seem like she wanted to hear his words. He'd temporarily push aside the last of his anger at her to comfort her in the way she wanted.

Slowly he deepened the kiss, allowing the intensity to naturally build. Addie's fingers pressed hard into the back of his neck, desperate to explore his skin. She wanted to let her hands roam over every inch of his arms and chest, just to make double sure he was whole and perfect. But her shoulder and elbow rejected that idea. She'd have to settle for Damon's large, strong hands holding her against him.

Damon broke the kiss, his hand gently cupping the back of her injured shoulder. He hand gone near her other arm; he could see how she her elbow was swollen to the size of a softball and she was taking care not to move it. It was clearly too painful. Pressing the lips to the corner of her mouth he murmured, "Let me heal you."

"Thought you weren't going to offer twice," she sassed, giving him a quick peck. "That was at least the third time."

"We both know I can't stand to see you in pain. Let me heal you," he insisted, kissing along her jaw.

"After you get some blood in you," sighed Addie, tilting her head up, to allow him better access to her neck.

He hummed thoughtfully, allowing his lips to skim to the base of her throat. "Is this you foolishly suggesting I feed off you."

Honestly, she hadn't considered that; she just want him to kiss her neck. It made sense. "You could."

"You missed the part where I said foolishly," he muttered. He licked at bead of water rolling to the hollow of her throat. Rhetorically he asked, "Have you seen your sleeve? You've lost a lot of blood, too."

"It just looks like I have. I feel fine; it's nothing like when we were making me lose blood so I could build up a tolerance to compulsion. You could just drink some of my blood and get all better. Then I would didn't yours and we'd both be fine," Addie explained reasonably, slightly distracted by the tickle of his five o'clock shadow as he nuzzled her neck.

Blood sharing, well, as close as they'd ever get to it since Addie would never be a vampire. Damon could get behind that idea. One problem. "Why can't I heal you first?"

"Because I'm still not fully convinced you're ok," she mumbled sheepishly. She knew she was being a little irrational at this point but she'd come to accept that her anxiety didn't always make sense.

"Even if i didn't have blood, I'd be just fine with a little rest and relaxation."

"I know. I just… you looked awful." Addie hadn't realized just how afraid she had been of losing him.

Damon tucked a lot of hair behind her ear as he studied her. She didn't _look_ like she was suffering from major blood loss and her pulse had been strong and steady under his lips but he still wasn't fond of the idea. He grimaced, "Are you sure you feel fine? I'd really rather just heal you first."

With her matter-of-fact, no nonsense voice she informed him, "There are three options in play: you can drink my blood and then heal me, you can drink a blood bag and then heal me, or I can go to doctor."

"That's so stupid. Why would you spend weeks healing when my blood can do it in seconds?"

"Because you are chauvinistic and stubborn and won't just drink some blood before you heal me."

"I'm more concerned about you than I am about myself. Why is that a crime?" Damon asked, trying to keep the irritation out of his voice.

"You're always the one that's concerned and I'm the one that always makes sacrifices for it. Today we're playing by my rules. But if you want to talk about concern, consider it this way: the sooner you feed, the sooner my pain stops," she pointed out logically.

He buried his face in her neck again to keep her from seeing his eye roll. This was precisely his point. Why didn't she understand that she needed to be healed first. While he felt like crap, he wasn't in pain. Again, Addie was going to get her way.

"You are my greatest weakness," Damon murmured, peppering a trail of soft kisses along the column of her throat. He didn't agree with drink from her when she was injured but it bothered him even more that she was in pain.

"You once told me all love is weakness," mumbled Addie, the hand at the back of his neck trying to pull him closer.

Her breathing increased as he nipped softly up her carotid artery to just below her jaw. There he bit a little harder in preparation, making her sigh softly. She smelled so sweet. Damon hated how eagerly his fangs descended; his body was still low on blood.

"I stand by that statement," he muttered darkly. Love had made her turn the stakes over to Klaus. Damon forced himself to think of something else. He'd be pissed with her after they were both fine. "However, you're also my greatest strength. Ready?"

Addie nodded and relaxed, leaning against Damon. His teeth pierced her skin effortlessly. There was the briefest moment of pain before she felt the pleasure, her body arcing up against him. Hot, sweet, blood exploded into his mouth. It was pure ecstasy. It wasn't that Addie was fresh blood; it was just _Addie_. He had never tasted something so exquisite and delectable and slightly forbidden. Something about the fact that nobody else could safely drink from her, to know that she was all his, made feeding from her so much more seductive. Addie moaned softly at the gentle pressure of his sucking. She ignored the pain in her arm to move her hand up into his hair, clutching it tight.

As soon as the warmth of her blood flowed through him Damon broke away. It wasn't as much as he needed for full strength but it was as much as he dared to take. Before his fangs had a chance to retract, he bit into his wrist. He shoved it in the small space between their faces and brashly commanded, "Drink."

"Ge, you don't waste any time," she muttered, rolling her eyes.

Sternly he repeated, "Drink." Her lips gently covered his wrist and she softly licked at the bitter, metallic blood. His lip turned up in relief. When he felt her pull away, he instructed, "Make sure you drink enough. The cut is easy enough to heal but it looks like you broke, sprain, or tore something in your elbow and that requires more blood."

Addie gently sucked the blood from his wrist until she could comfortably move both arms to pull his arm out of the way. Looking up at him shyly she whispered, "Thank you.''

Damon pushed the bloody sleeve up her bicep and onto her arm. It looked completely normal. "How's the elbow?"

Smirking, Addie rested said elbow on his shoulder and ran her fingers through his wet, slick backed hair. "Perfectly fine."

"Good," he replied, detached, cool, his guards going back up. "Who hurt you?"

She shook her head in disgust, backing into the stream of the shower, accusing, "This was all just a ploy to heal me. You're still pissed offed."

"Actually it was a ploy to get your shirt off but you healed is a better result than i had originally anticipated," Damon bluntly admitted. He scoffed, "Obviously I'm still pissed off. In fact, I'm still not talking to you and want you to go home. But first I want to know who to kill for hurting you."

Addie through her hands up in frustration. How could Damon go from being sweet one minute to a dick the next? He was so mercurial. He was also loyal. She rolled her eyes and scoffed, "You're not going to kill Alaric."

" _Ric!?"_ Damon spat, half in disbelief, half in rage.

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you guys so, so, so, so, so, very much from the bottom of my heart for all your supportive feedback. So, I'm continuing on with the story. I promised to finish it and I will. I'd love to do that by the end of the year but that depends on a lot of different factors but mostly my mental health (which your comments help(yes, I know I need therapy for finding validation and self-worth through you guys -_- I'm working on it)).**

 **I apologize for all the typos and any inconsistencies in this chapter - I tried to catch them.(There isn't an inconsistency in the number of stakes Damon confirms to Klaus and him being on vervain. Damon just decided to act like a five year old so I didn't get a chance to get to that yet.) I've literally been up for 48 hours working just on this. The mind doesn't work as well on no sleep. This episode had to be broken into two parts or else it would be another month before an update.**

 **Thank you all for your comments and reads and sticking this out.**

 **And I had to steal Klaus as the pool boy Addie lusts after from one of the comments. That had my sides splitting with laughter.**


	24. Chapter 23

" _Ric!?"_ Damon spat, half in disbelief, half in rage. "Ric hurt you?"

"Well, his dark, council-member-slaying alter ego was the one who attacked me," she pointed out reasonably.

"I'm gonna kill him," he stated decisively. Both his hand were tugging at his hair in frustration. Water rolled down his forehead and into his eyes but he didn't notice. He was too distracted by the fact that his best friend had gone after his girlfriend. He knew Ric's bad side was dark but he cared for Addie, he looked out for her. Damon imagined that his feelings would still exist in his dark, alter ego and would protect Addie from Ric.

"You're not going to kill your best friend."

Damon nodded, becoming even more convinced the more he thought about it and maintained, "I'm gonna kill him. This is the second time he's tried to kill you. He's not getting a third attempt."

"It wasn't Ala-"

"I don't care what personality he had, Addison! In fact, if it was the psychotic one, that means Bonnie's little herbs and magic aren't helping. If Alaric can't control who he is, he's more likely to go after you again, which gives me all the more reason to kill him!" he exclaimed furiously, his voice bouncing off the bathroom walls. The more he dwelled on it, the less sense it made. Either Ric was never his friend or he had absolutely no control over himself when he went dark. Either way he had to go down.

She had expected Damon to be upset. She had expected him to be livid at Alaric. She'd even anticipated him threatening to kill Alaric. The truth was that he was just caught off guard and in shock. His natural reaction would be to harm anyone that had hurt her. Once he cooled off enough to think about the situation rationally, he'd realize it wasn't Alaric's fault. Addie blatantly admired the way beads of water rolled down the well defined muscles of his chest and abs, eventually absorbing into his sodden jeans, noting, "This is _so_ far from a normal relationship."

Floored by this comment and sudden jump in topic, Damon floundered for a response. What was he supposed to do? Ignore the bombshell that his best friend tried to kill his girlfriend again? Not be pissed off at her for giving the stakes to Klaus? Not be pissed off at her for getting herself into a situation that Alaric had the opportunity to attack her? Wait; he was blaming that part on Klaus manipulating her. Was he supposed to acknowledge her comment and discuss all the abnormal factors of their relationship? Having no idea what the right reaction was, he decided to force her hand.

"What are you doing?" she asked warily when he stepped closer to her and began undoing the button and fly on his jeans.

Damon shrugged innocently as he tugged down the zipper, "You told me to take a shower. I can't very well do that with my pants on. Oh, and I'm not talking to you."

Addie's brows furrowed as she tried to figure out what the hell he was up to. Again, she took him by surprise by not immediately bolting from the shower. Unsure of what it was going to take to get her out or to simply tell him whatever the hell she expected him to do, he proceeded to lower his jeans. It was slightly difficult as they stuck to him and his boxers kept trying pulling down. Removing those was his Hail Mary; if _that_ did get Addie out of the shower, he was really screwed.

"And you're actually being serious," she muttered in awe, surprised when his boxers were revealed. Drench, she wasn't sure if they were really navy or black, either way, they did much as the jeans had and clung to him. The tile over his left shoulder suddenly became very fascinating. What was he doing? It wasn't unusual for Damon to strip down to his boxers in front of her but that was different; his boxers weren't usually so tight and revealing. Realizing what he was doing Addie scoffed in disgust and frustration, "We're not far from normal; we're screwed up."

If Damon wanted to intimidate her out of a shower he lured her into she wasn't going to argue with him. Why he couldn't just use his words like a normal person, she didn't understand. Addie got out, not being particularly gentle in closing the stall's door. The frosted glass softly rattled in the frame. If he was going to act like a child, so could she.

She tugged uncomfortably at the sodden shirt sticking to her skin; wet clothes were one of her biggest pet peeves. They were all clingy and rubbed against the skin unnaturally. She'd been stupid to follow Damon into a shower. _Why_ had she followed Damon into a shower? She knew why; it was very aggravating how expressive his face could be. Even if he could, Damon would never need to compel her. Very conscious of how she dripped onto the bath mat, she darted to Damon's dresser and grabbed two towels from the bottom drawer. It was such an odd place to keep towels. She wrapped one around her hair like a turban. She held the other one away from her to keep it from getting wet as she went back into the bathroom.

"You stay in there," Addie needlessly called to Damon over the sounds of water running. She didn't doubt he would spend a good half hour in the shower brooding. He did his deep thinking over a good bottle of bourbon or in the shower. He'd knocked back the bourbon she'd brought up without a blink, it was likely that he'd think in the shower. Far be it from her to understand why he picked one of the two. She stripped off all her wet clothes and dropped them into the bathtub. They'd deal with them later. Jeremy's shirt she was just going to have to throw away. There was no way that much blood was coming out. Plus it was ripped.

Addie wrapped the fluffy ivory towel tightly around herself and went back to Damon's dresser. When she had been staying with Damon, the better part of her wardrobe had been at his house. Slowly her things had moved back home, though. There was a change of clothes left but that would just make it easier for him to insist she go home. While she could understand Damon wanting his space, she didn't necessarily think he should be left with his own thoughts for too long. He might actually convince himself on an impulsive whim to kill Alaric. Or drink until it seemed liked the best idea in the world. It already seemed semi-rational to him. Addie wasn't going to let Damon kill his best friend for something he wasn't really responsible for.

Quickly she dried herself and pulled on one of his soft, black v-neck tees and his lucky boxers which were a silky black material with patterned with yellow smiley faces. They were her favorite pair, mostly because they were very un-Damon. Addie then worked on drying her hair to the best of her ability with just the towel. She ducked into the bathroom to grab a hairbrush, and as she expected, Damon didn't notice. As she raked through her hair, she saw the flashing notification light from her phone that she had tossed on Damon's bed. Curious, she checked to see what it was about.

Bonnie: The Originals aren't linked. I had to unlink them. Klaus threatened to hurt Jeremy if I didn't. He knows where he is.

Addie felt her heart drop to her stomach. Damon's words about Klaus killing Jeremy because he didn't get his way came rushing back to her. She _knew_ shipping him off to Denver without any protection was stupid. Still, Damon had happily gone behind her back and compelled him away because it was what Elena wanted.

Addie scrolled through her contacts until she found who she wanted and pressed the phone to her ear.

"Hey, Ad!" her brother greeted brightly. "What's up?"

Tears of relief formed as she heard his voice, heard that he was alright. Klaus hadn't killed him to make a point. Not wanting to lie but not wanting to ruin his happiness in one breath Addie admitted, "I ruined your shirt. I got blood on it. I was being stupid and got myself cut. I'm sorry."

"Calm down," Jeremy laughed. "It's just a shirt…. Unless you mean my autographed Frank Beamer Virginia Tech Football Jersey. In that case, run." His voice was low and menacing as he said the last word.

"Eww," she said with revulsion. "If I'm wearing a jersey it's the Baltimore Ravens or no one."

"Pro ball and college ball are two separate things. There's the knee-down, the game clock, th-"

Smiling, Addie couldn't help shaking her head in exasperation. He tried to tell her the differences a thousand times. Bluntly she interrupted him, "I don't care how they differ! I just like to watch the Ravens."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Hey, did you need something? I'm actually heading out with some friends right now."

She would have sworn her eyebrow met her hairline. The brother she knew was a loner. He didn't hang out with people. They hung out with each other; it was part of what made them so close. Though, she hadn't exactly been the best sister since getting involved with Damon. Plus, Jeremy was halfway across the country. He would obviously need to make new friends.

"Um, no. I just hadn't heard your voice since you left. We only text. I was starting to remember you with a very thick, Russian accent," she joked, trying to keep the situation light hearted. She'd let Elena teardown his happiness again by telling him about Klaus.

"Aww," Jeremy cooed mockingly, "I miss you too. Listen, I really gotta head out but I'll catch you later. Bye, Ad."

"Bu-," Addie cut herself off as the line went quiet. As she tossed herself onto the bed she grumbled, "My own brother hung up on me. I can't believe he hung up on me."

After a few moments of contemplation, Addie decided that she was going to let Elena come up with some new way of protecting Jeremy from Klaus. Playing the hero was not fun, she reflected, mindlessly rubbing at the elbow Alaric had injured. Ugh. She couldn't justify saving Damon and not her brother. But Jeremy wasn't in immediate danger, as Damon had been. Klaus _had_ made a threat. Past tense! Yes, she was worried about her brother but why did it have to be her problem? Saving Damon had already been her problem. Escaping from a crazy Alaric had already been her problem. Couldn't she just go back to worry about everyone else tomorrow? It had been a long day. And she still had to put up with whatever mood Damon was in.

 _Addir: Text Elena about Jeremy._

She knew she was a bad sister for not jumping into immediate action to try and rescue her brother. However, he sounded fine when she talked to him. He didn't sound like he was in imminent danger. That wasn't the only problem. If Bonnie had unlinked the Originals, that meant killing one of them did not mean killing all of them. With only Stefan's stake and Alaric's they only had two weapons to take down five Originals. Damon was not going to be happy about that. Addie wasn't going to be the one to tell him about that little problem, though. He was already made enough at her for trading away the stakes.

Momentarily allowing herself to act exactly how she wanted, regardless of whether it was appropriate or not, Addie buried her face in the and pounded her fist and feet against the mattress in a mini-tantrum. Her life was so much simpler when there wasn't hybrids, witches, vampires and every other awful thing. She just didn't want to deal with all the magic and drama.

Addie flopped onto her back and stared up at Damon's ceiling. It would be so easy to cover the smooth ceiling in glow-in-the-dark stars. She closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind. Meditation had never been her thing but her mind was too cluttered. Klaus. Jeremy. Damon.

Damon stayed in the shower until the water ran cool. He knew Addie hadn't left. He'd been straining to hear the sounds of her leaving. Why couldn't she understand that he didn't want to talk to her? He didn't want to see her. He didn't want to be around her. She had betrayed him.

His feelings for her hand not changed; he loved her to the end of the universe and back and would do anything for her but he just needed some space. She had passed ten stakes over to Klaus. Sure, he only needed one to kill the Originals but that wasn't the point. As much as he wanted to be the one to ram a stake through Klaus' heart, he'd settle for anyone taking the shot. It was simple math; more people armed meant more people who could kill Klaus or his siblings. He just wanted to keep Addie safe. The girl had handed over 83% of their weapons to the enemy for no damn reason!

He eyed her warily, stretched out on his bed. If he wasn't so pissed off at her he might appreciate her back in his clothes, particularly his lucky boxers. The first time he ever let her borrow them, he never would have imagined that she would end up wearing them more often than he did. Their whole relationship was something he never imagined. Damon snatched the blood bags and the bottle of bourbon she had brought up earlier off the bed as he went to his dresser. He didn't want to start examining their relationship. He'd just return to a love struck idiot when all he wanted to be was Damon, the selfish, angry bastard. He dropped the blood bags on the dressers, knowing he should probably drink one. Finishing off the bourbon in one swig was a lot more appealing, however.

The sudden sound of crashing waves made Addie inhale in surprise. She hadn't even heard Damon get out of the shower as she'd been too lost in her thoughts. A towel was slung low around his hips and the muscles of his back flexed and glided just beneath the skin in a powerful way as he poured a drink from the decanter he kept in the top drawer. He finished that and poured another. And another after that. The bottle of bourbon was also empty. While he had probably consumed next to nothing compared to his usual alcohol intake when he was in a foul mood, it was definitely the most she had seen him drink in a long time.

"So, you turning on the sound machine suggests you're going to stop acting like a petulant child and actually talk to me like a mature adult?" Addie observed smartly. He made no acknowledgement of hearing her. His back received a very icy glare. "At this point I'd settle for yelling. Though, you're probably just going to leave the room to avoid dealing with me."

Damon pulled out a random pair of boxers without much thought.

"Damon!" exclaimed Addie, her hand quickly covering her eyes. Guiltily, she ever-so-slightly squinted through the crack between her fingers. Her brows furrowed as she frowned; she didn't get it. What was the big deal about a butt? Damon's was toned and probably firm, just like the rest of him. It really was nothing special. In a gossip session, long before Addie was dating him, Caroline, Bonnie and Elena all had said Damon had a great ass. Addie truly didn't get the appeal. Actually, as she peeked Addie wondered why butts were considered private beyond the fact that it was covered by underwear because it only made sense to make underwear that went all the way around so that it covered what mattered.

Whoops. Damon's intention hadn't been to make Addie uncomfortable when he dropped his towel. There were certain realms of uncomfortable he felt comfortable pushing her into, like little steps beyond how far they'd gone. He'd taken a jump across that line without meaning to. An apology was at his lips when he remembered he wasn't talking to her. The right thing would have been to apologize but he was in a mood to be petty. She could get over it or leave. It wasn't like he hadn't put on a pair of boxers right away and he highly doubted it would cause their relationship to end.

Damon took his glass of scotch and went to bed. He propped up the pillows against the headboard and leaned back against them. He stared into his drink intensely as he recalled when she had run out of the boarding house the night after he drugged her and the long silence that followed. It wasn't the drugging that had screwed things up, it was his stupid mouth saying something about not dealing with her. He was only breaking his vow of silence just for her peace of mind.

"Remember when you asked me what happens when I get tired of dealing with you?" he prompted, his voice sounding flat and hollow. "I told you I'm lucky I get to do that. I said dealing with you is something I thoroughly enjoy doing except when you're doing something that puts your life in danger. You, not once, but repeatedly put yourself in danger today. I function on you driving me ten types of crazy. This...what you've done, is beyond that. I don't know how to deal with it or you."

"Now you know how I feel every time you go off on some crazy, suicidal mission, which is, oh," Addie paused, pretending to contemplate, "every other day."

"I'm not talking to you," Damon remarked scornfully as he took a sip of scotch. He'd had just enough to take the edge off the worst of his anger. She had been so careless. Addie was scary smart but she had made an extremely stupid move. It wasn't just the fact that she put herself in danger and allowed Klaus to be a continuous threat to her but she knew how much killing Klaus had meant to him. He had been working for eternity to bring Klaus down and just when Damon had finally gotten the upper hand, Addie betrayed him.

As she lay on her back, Addie's eyes shifted from the ceiling to Damon's face. It was a blank, unreadable mask. "You know, you keep saying you're not talking to me but then you end up talking to me. Then you repeat that you're not talking to me," she pointed out with bitter humor. When Damon continued to ignore her for another five minutes she suggested, "We could just skip this stage where you act like a whiney child and get to the yelling part."

"I'm too perturbed to yell at you," Damon grumbled into his glass.

Her lips twitched into a frown. That wasn't a good sign. He was being a bit ridiculous, though. Cheekily she retorted, "You talked to me again." His eyes were cold as the drifted down to meet hers. Addie huffed in frustration, "You're being a real selfish bastard. If the situations were reversed and I was the one being chained up and tortured, you would have traded the stakes!"

"No," he admitted incredulously. How could she possibly believe that? "No, I wouldn't. I'd kill any Original as soon as I could and that would result in Rebekah dying, which would mean I could save you from her. Two birds, one stone. It's simple logic, which you claim to be all about. So I'm sitting here wondering how the fuck you reasoned that handing over the stakes was the smart, logical thing to do!" Damon exclaimed, his voice increasing in volume as he went on. Perhaps he wasn't too vexed to yell, not that he had quite reached that level yet. Afterall, he had turned on the sound machine because he didn't want Stefan to hear them fighting.

"You would let me be Rebekah's chew toy for the next six months or however long it took you to come up with the perfect execution plan? You would let me go through all that pain before you'd hand over the stakes to Klaus?" Addie asked challengingly. Though he acted tough, Damon was really a tender hearted romantic. He just wasn't very good at the romance part of it all. Her eyebrows knitted together as she realized they were going to have two fights going at once again. The fighting with Damon was exhausting; they couldn't even agree on celebrating a small victory. Given how sour Addie's mood was turning, she was beginning to appreciate that they both simply made it to the end of the day alive. If only she could make Damon see that. "Saving your ass from whatever the hell Rebekah had planned for you was smart and logical. Klaus said she was bleeding the vervain from you. You could have been forced into doing anything."

"I wouldn't wait around. I'd go straight in for the kill,"Damon bristled defensively. "I had them thoroughly convinced that the vervain was out of my system when I practically ripped my hands off because Klaus ordered me to leave. Rebekah would have compelled me to do whatever she wanted but I would be able to resist. She wouldn't be expecting that. There would have been another opening to stake them."

"If you did either one of those, you'd be careless and reckless and you'd ultimately get yourself killed," she retorted all-knowingly.

"I would not," he retorted scornfully. He tugged on a lock of dark red hair twisted around his finger just hard enough to let her know he didn't appreciate what she had said. Quickly he began to stroke the fine strands along her hairline gently to let her know he wasn't truly mad, at least about the comment

"You _so_ would," argued Addie as her head moved to press into the curve of his hip. "Your plans are downright suicidal when you don't think. You let your emotions control you."

"Says the girl who handed over the ultimate weapon to the ultimate bastard for some other dumb bastard. To use your words:pot," he poked her in the nose and then pointed at himself, "kettle, black."

She scoffed dramatically in disgust, "Other than the part about you both being pompous bastards -"

Sharply he cut in, "I never said pompous."

"I know; I was just pointing out the obvious," Addie said innocently, smiling sweetly. "As I was saying, I was completely rational in handing over the stakes. I didn't take Stefan's. I didn't trade away everything." She was going to mention that they still had Alaric's, as well, but the tiniest part of her could help but be surprised that he had flipped out into into a homicidal, revenge-driven maniac. She couldn't help but be proud of how rational he was being about Alaric attacking her. He'd just had that one outburst; they hadn't even really argued about her role in the event. It was probably best to let that topic stay where it had landed. Realizing how harsh her words had sounded, she quickly added, "Of course I would have traded them all away if that's what I had to do to get you back."

Damon nodded in finality and quickly raised his glass in a victory salute. "Thank you for making my point for me. You are very capable of making a very dumb choice based solely on emotions."

How did this get all twisted around? He was the impulsive, reckless one. She was cautious and overly analytical. They balanced each other out. His yin to her yang. How did he get to win? How did he get to be upset with her for saving him?

"I don't believe you wouldn't trade all off the stakes in exchange for me if you knew Klaus had me hostage," Addie said resolutely. She had faith Damon's love would overtake his pride if it came down to it.

As he sipped on his scotch Damon drawled, "You're wrong."

"You wouldn't risk him hurting me before you had a chance to kill him," she argued. He was going to admit the truth one way or another.

"We've established that Klaus isn't interested in killing you."

"Ohhh," Addie elongated dramatically as she sat up and turned to face Damon with wide, mocking eyes. Her brain wanted to explode at just how ridiculous he was being. Appalled, she clarified, "So now that it suits your argument, we agree that Klaus isn't interested in harming me at the moment, yes?"

Damon's lips pursed into a thin line. He couldn't see where Addie was headed but he had a feeling by the smug look on her face that it didn't bode well for him. The safest response seemed to be no response.

"If Klaus isn't trying to hurt me, I didn't put myself into any danger when I decided to make a deal with him. You don't get to be mad at me for that, then."

"He might not be trying to hurt you right now," he snapped harshly, quickly correcting, "but your welfare definitely isn't a concern for him. He didn't care that your life was put at risk trying to get the stakes. Not to mention, he still wants you for some unknown reason and purpose in the future. That reason could be to kill you. You should be staying away from him not playing _Let's Make a Deal._ "

"The point is that I wasn't in immediate danger because 'we've established that Klaus isn't interested in killing' me," Addie said, doing her best impression of him as she repeated his words.

His glass clinked as he set it down on the nightstand. Damon crossed his arms and grimaced, "Fine. Addie, you're always in danger when Klaus is involved. I don't fancy the idea of you being left with him for half a second; obviously, I don't like the idea of you being his hostage. Is that what you want to hear?"

She gave a noncommittal shrug but her smug grin told him how she really felt. Haughtily she probed, "So, you'd trade the stakes so Klaus wouldn't keep me hostage."

"I wouldn't-"

"The longer you hesitate the longer I'm his hostage and the longer I'm in danger," she reminded him in a singsong voice.

A muscle in Damon's jaw twitched as his teeth ground together. His hand trembled in frustration as he ran it through his drying hair. He softly growled, "Just because I'd trade the stakes for you doesn't make you swapping them for me acceptable."

"Are you kidding me? Are you fucking kidding me?" Addie demanded in exasperation. How could he be so stupid?

"No, I'm not!" he snapped angrily, eyeing her wearily as she moved closer towards him. "Now we-"

Addie's mouth pressed firmly over his, her hand roughly fisted into his dark hair, holding him too her. Taking advantage of Damon's surprise, she slipped her tongue between his parted lips. Something, whether it was frustration or a desperation to make her point, made Addie feel emboldened. Instead of trying to ignore the fact that she had a tongue ring, like usual, she made a point of running the top of it along the roof of Damon's mouth. He growled into the kiss, catching the top and bottom of the barbell between his teeth as Addie tried to retreat to her own mouth. Naked aggression, frustrated passion, pure rare erupted from Damon and into the kiss as he took control. Addie tried to fight back against him but that was difficult when he literally had her stuck in place. The taste of black cherry, orange and apricot lingered under the toffee element off his scotch but it was all mixed with the familiar taste of simple alcohol that she had grown to associate with him.

Addie let Damon's arm around her waist guide him to her, pulling him closer until she placed a knee on either side of his hip, straddling him. Her hands wandered freely over his silk skin, over the swell of his arms, pressing into the solid muscles of his chest, tracing the defining lines of his abs. She heard his breathing hitch as she traced a nail through the fine patch of hair that led from just below his navel to the top of his boxers.

Damon groaned desperately as his hands slipped under the band of the boxers she wore and over hot, satiny skin. Unable to resist, he gently squeezed at the globes filling his palms. Addie jerked back, fighting for air. Damon quickly relocated his hands to the small of her back, a guilty look on his face. He was confused to find her smiling. Even more baffling was when she pressed a reassuring kiss to his cheek before breaking into a fit of giggles. Blankly he stated, "I don't get it."

That made Addie giggle harder. Through her laughter she managed, "I don't get it either. That's the issue."

"What issue?"

"I don't understand the appeal of the buttocks," she explained, trying to sound extremely serious but failing miserably.

"Oh my god," Damon muttered as he leaned back against the headboard and looked up at the ceiling. He dragged a hand over his face as he was assaulted with terrible thoughts, each one worse than the last.

It was sobering to see and feel Damon's guards go up. She hadn't meant to offend or upset him. Though, his frustration was back in full force. She asked slightly defensively, "What?"

"It's a primal, animalistic thing, just like attraction to breast, hips and a small waist. They are all indicators that a woman is fertile. Perky and round was a good indicator in caveman days that she was young enough to bear children," he answered, hoping that would be enough to satisfy her curiousity.

That made sense for why guys were attracted but it still didn't explain why her sister and friends thought her boyfriend had a nice posterior. That hadn't been what she'd been asking about and he knew it, though. She frowned disapprovingly at him, "I meant what's wrong?"

Bitterly he answered, "The fact that you have to ask that is one of the many, many things wrong. You were right; we are screwed up."

"That's alright," Addie said quick and quiet. She felt her heart begin to race. She could see a defeated glint in his eye but mostly his expression was guarded. "I'll take screwed up over nothing."

"Do you know what it says about us that you break out laughing in the middle of making out because I felt your ass?" he remarked dryly. He was having a difficult time deciding if he was going to be more insulted by the slight it was to his makeout skills or if he was going to be more cerebral about it and consider what it said about Addie's maturity and their relationship. One was just stupid and not true, which made being upset about it a general nuisance and frustrating while the other made him challenge his morals.

Her face turned as red as her hair as she mumbled, "That's not why I laughed. I mean, it's not the first time you've done it."

"No but last time I distinctly remember you wearing some nice feeling boyshorts," Damon nodded. "Yeah, I definitely would have remembered grabbing your bare ass."

"No. No, that didn't bother me," Addie insisted sheepishly. "I… ugh," she groaned, burying her face in her hands in embarrassment.

His cool fingers delicately wrapped around her wrist as he tried to pull her hands away. Concerned he asked gently, "What? What did I do? You know I don't want to do anything if you're not ok talking about it"

She snorted humorlessly and muttered into her palms, "That's why it's called spying and not ogling."

"What are you talking about?"

Addie used one hand to covered her scarlet face and the other to gesture towards Damon's dresser as she explained, "When you were changing."

"Oh! You peaked," Damon chuckled in understanding. He didn't notice sitting up a little straighter or holding his shoulders back; he might have been a little please that he made her curious enough to look. "So? What you'd think?"

"I already told you," she grumbled, scowling at him through her eyelashes as she kept her head down. "I don't get the appeal. It's toned and firm, just like the rest of you. It supports you when you sit. At least your upper body muscles are involved in cuddling and what not; I have to say they have a greater appeal factor."

"I'm not hearing a _bad_ so I'm gonna take that," he decided smugly.

"You're impossible. It's no wonder your ego is so huge."

Knowing that their relationship was as about as functional as it ever got, Damon allowed himself to revert to being angry, as he had been before Addie had so artfully tried to distract him. He strictly informed her, "I'm still pissed at you for giving away the stakes."

"I didn't give-"

"Trading them away. Whatever you want to call it. I'm still pissed at you about it."

"And you're not going to talk to me," Addie mimicked.

Damon shook his head. "No, that's rather pointless. You're too persistent."

Actually, he was just really bad at giving the silent treatment but Addie wasn't going to get nitpicky about how he conceded defeat. Realizing she was still straddling him, she went to move but his hand were still in the small of her back, pressing for her to stay where she was. She wasn't exactly sure what she wanted if he was upset with her.

"I know what you're thinking; I'm a hypocrite for being mad."

While the thought had crossed her mind for half a second, it wasn't what she was actively thinking about. However, if Damon could realize he was being ridiculous all on his own, she would be happy to watch. She raised her eyebrows, suggesting he continue.

"If I traded the stakes in exchange for you, you wouldn't be mad at me. In fact, I think you were a little upset when I said I wouldn't trade them back right away. I should just be grateful that you're more concerned about me than you are with seeking revenge on Klaus," he reasoned out, sounding like a reprimanded school boy.

"Yes, you should," Addie agreed gently, wrapping an arm around his neck. "So why can't you just be happy?"

"I'm _trying_ , Ads," Damon lamented in exasperation. "Me not making you leave or going to another room, me talking to you even though I don't want to, me biting my tongue about what you did - for the most part, this is me trying not to be pissed off at you. This whole situation is very unusual for me."

Addie bit the inside of her lip to keep her face neutral instead of showing how she was annoyed. "Why is it so difficult? Why is it unusual?"

"What you did today, you put your life in danger _for me_. You put me before getting revenge on Klaus. You put me before everything. I'm not use to that," he admitted quietly, his sky blue eyes wide.

"Well, of course I did. That's what it means to love someone," she said gently, still not seeing the big deal.

"I know. I've just never had someone truly love me like you do. I've always had something selfish. I got to do whatever was necessary to protect the person I cared for without worrying about how they would feel because they didn't put me first. Katherine, Elena and Stefan definitely never put there life in danger for me so I've never known what it's like to be put first. It's a guilty feeling. I don't like it," Damon explained. The backs of his fingers grazed her cheek as he brought his forehead to rest against hers.

Addie's lips twitched as she said, "Guess you get why I didn't want you taking on those suicidal missions, even if you were putting me first."

"You mean something along the lines of 'what's the point in living if this person gets killed over me?' Yes, which means now I have to figure out how to protect you and myself at the same time, which is so much more complicated." he sighed contemplatively.

That might be a tad melodramatic but if it made Damon start giving mind to his own safety, it worked for her. Tersely she remarked, "You make being loved by me sound so awful."

Damon's eyebrows furrowed and his lips pulled into a frown as he studied her in confusion. He caught her chin between his thumb and forefinger and gave her a soft, chaste kiss and said, "That's the furthest thing from the truth. To know that you feel just as strongly as I do is…. It makes me concerned for you because I know how far I would go to make you happy and to keep you safe. I don't want you going to those lengths for me, and yet you did. While it makes me uncomfortable because of how much I love you, there's this selfish part of me that just can't help but feel elated knowing you return my feelings. I mean, I knew you loved me, I just didn't realize it was in the same way that I love you."

"You mean desperate and pathetic?" Addie inquired innocently, trying to lighten the mood. Yes, she loved him but he was making a big deal out of nothing. She hadn't really put her life in danger when dealing with Klaus. She didn't know she'd be facing danger when she tried to get the stake from Alaric, and she wasn't sure if she'd have still faced him to try and get the stake, told Klaus Alaric had it and she didn't know if he was sane, or if she would have lied about the number of stakes. Klaus seemed to have believed her easily enough when she hadn't included Stefan's.

One side of his mouth lifted into a smile as he tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "All love is desperate and pathetic. Not all love is 'the star to every wandering bark,/ whose worth's unknown.' You are my North star on a pitch black night guiding me home. Nothing and no one will ever compare to you. I love you, Ads."

Damon leaned in for a kiss but Addie pulled away, her lips twisted into a teasing grin. "You're impossible," she reprimanded. The playfulness in her tone almost completely masked the faint trace of annoyance. "You're moodier than me, and I happen to be an extremely moody person."

"So it's ok for you to be temperamental but not me?" he challenged.

"No," Addie exaggerated, as if that were the obvious answer. "At least I try to not be so mercurial. You seem to make a game of it and don whatever mood you see fitting."

"Love, you drive me ten types of crazy with your… _Addie-ness_. It's a miracle that I'm only capricious with you."

"Yes, I really should be throwing you a parade for not having killed me. If I was anyone else you would have," she smirked, rolling her eyes. She knew she wasn't the easiest person to put up with but Damon somehow managed to do better than simply tolerate her; he loved her. Of course she wasn't blind to the fact that he could be difficult to be with at times. They both had to make sacrifices.

"Well, I've never wanted to do that. It's other areas I've had to exercise self-control," he said provocatively. Addie squealed in surprised, her legs and arms automatically wrapping around Damon as he used his speed to move them so Addie was on her back, her head resting against a pillow.

"No vamp -" she started to whine before gasping. It felt like bubbles were forming in her stomaching and making their way out her body in giggles as Damon dragged a fingernail on each side of her bare waist. Once he had her attention he added more fingers, making the giggles come faster and harder. In between breaths she stammered, "S-st-stop it!" His fingers danced mirthlessly across her lower stomach."Please!"

Damon squeezed at her side, causing Addie to bare her neck to him. She had turned red as she struggled to catch her breath; he wondered just how far down that blush went. He hummed in mock consideration as he let his five o'clock shadow tickle the flushed, sensitive skin. He pinched at either side of her waist and her chest arched up into his as she squeaked. He gave a dark chuckle and nipped at her earlobe. He eased up on the tickling as he decided, "I don't think so. It's definitely been a long day and you have definitely driven me to a new level of crazy. My self-control just isn't as impeccable as usual."

Addie hesitated, biting her lip. Now she realized why damon had stopped his assault; to give her a chance to back out. Was that what she wanted? Her fingers glided across his skin as she tried to get him back. When she reached the hem of his boxers she pouted, "It's not fair that you're not ticklish."

"I've never claimed to play fair," Damon grinned deviously.

Her fingers dug into the back of his neck, where his soft, dark locks curled against the skin as Damon gave her a hard kiss. His fingers gently stroked at her side, making her giggle. He took advantage of this and deepened the kiss. She was torn between laughing and moaning as he bit at her bottom lip. He snickered as he buried his face in the crook of her neck, softly nibbling where her neck and shoulder met. A sharp tug to his hair made him groan but he didn't pull away as she was holding him to her still. Damon's fingers had resumed frantically moving between her lower ribs and the hem of the boxers she wore, occasionally he would move to her lower abs and that brought on a new level of torture.

Addie screwed her eyes shut as she tried to make out the sensation overload. Tickling always felt like a can of fizzy pop exploding inside of her and her laughter was the bubbles overflowing. It was such a contrast to the ecstasy he was creating with his lip, teeth, and tongue working at her neck. Both left her gasping for air and left a fluttering feeling in her chest. Addie tried to form a coherent thought but it was useless; Damon had complete control over her.

While he expected her to whimper, gasp, moan and wiggle incessantly, Damon quickly ceased his ministrations when she gave a soft, strangled cry. She smiled, gulping down air as she tighten her arms and legs, pulling him closer to her. While he had complete control, he had enough control of himself to stop at even the slightest hesitation displayed on her part.

She raked her nails down his back; he managed to contain his groan to a grunt and a bite of his lip. He still wasn't sure if something was wrong. Using his hair, Addie pulled him in for a rough kiss, pleading, "Don't stop."

It was only a moment before Damon took control back, biting at her lower lip until she shuddered, nipping at the corner of her mouth, kissing along her jawbone to suck at the pulse point at her throat, swallowing her racing heartbeat. From the way her waist burned, just like her neck under his cool lips, he was betting that her entire upper body was flushed from a mixture of arousal and laughing. He gave light, teasing strokes as he slowwly rucked up her shirt. He went slow in case she wanted to stop him but Addie only giggled softly and arched her stomach up to meet his. He stop moving her shirt when he reached her breast but for the first time, he let his fingers wander further up her sides. She stopped laughing. Apparently she wasn't ticklish there. That was good to know but Damon decided he needed to be really certain. His fingers brushed the sides of her breast as his fingers ghosted the area repeatedly.

"Breathe," he reminded as he tended to a spot just below her ear. Addie let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding with a nervous titter. Damon rested his hands on stomach, a safe-zone, and played with the sun and moon that dangled from her bellybutton piercing as he checked, "You okay? You want me to stop?"

Addie hesitated, "That's a lot easier to give a monosyllabic answer to when the questions are both answered with the same way. I feel like a monosyllabic response is much more appropriate to the situation than a long complex answer."

Damon chuckled, "I love you. That's still not an answer; it just tells me the answer to one is 'yes' and the other is 'no.' I still need to know what goes with what to know how to proceed."

While Damon hadn't thought it possible, Addie turned even redder and mumbled, "I already told you not to stop."

That worked for him. Damon rested his forehead against hers and pressed a lingering kiss to her mouth. Her lips parted under his, and suddenly everything was all sweet, dark het and Addie's lips brushing over his, first teasing, then harder. He groaned softly as his hands followed the curves of her hips to under his lucky boxers. Screw it. He was done trying to deny the truth. He respected Addie as her own individual person with her own mind as he had respected no other woman; but he was still extremely selfish. He was possessive of his girlfriend; the sight of her in his clothes was arousing. Knowing she wore only his clothes was his undoing.

His fingers traced the curve of her hips and the dip of her waist with the perfect amount of pressure to make her squirm and whimper beneath him without laughing. His own breathing grew ragged as she pushed her hips into his. He tried to keep Addie's lips on his, he didn't want her distracted, but a sharp tug to his hair told him she wasn't giving up until she got what she wanted: his neck. He succumbed when she bit sharply. Damon growled, pressing their bodies more firmly together. Where their skin met it was like ice and fire. Whether she was becoming more confident or more comfortable with him, he wasn't sure but she seemed to be begging to understanding that he was a vampire and wouldn't be hurt.

As she took his earlobe between her teeth, he became very convinced that it was important that he find out if the top of her stomach was as ticklish as the lower part. Goosebumps prickled Addie's skin as he ghosted over it but she didn't laugh. His fingers dipped under where his shirt stopped, skimming the bottoms of her breast. Addie inhaled sharply and Damon froze. When she let out a shallow breath, he continued brushing the skin as soft as silk. While the top of her stomach and upper sides weren't ticklish on their own, he had to double check that they weren't ticklish if touched at the same time.

His thumbs cupped her breath as his fingers traced around to the sides. Addie whimpered wantonly. Damon was touching her but not really. He never truly touched her breast; his fingers were just stroking, teasing were they swelled out. Damon smirked when she buried her face into the crook of his neck and moaned, digging her nails into his back.

Innocently he asked, "Something wrong?"

"No," she whined. It wasn't fair. Damon was supposed to be the one with the one track mind; she was supposed to be teasing him.

His hands occupied, Damon used his chin to encourage Addie to look at him. Through dark lashes eyes dark with lust and desire peered up at him. She felt heat coiling in her stomach as he gave her a carnal smile. Their lips crashed together with a force that sent a shock of pleasure-pain through her. It was a hard, hot driving kiss, a nip at his lower lip and the battle of tongues and teeth, both of them pressing as hard as they could to get close. Addie rolled her hips into his.

Damon let out a strangled groan. God, she was hot, so hot. And just in his boxers. Though he pressed himself back into her, he gently stroked at the edges of her breast, reminding himself to not get distracted. That was difficult with Addie grinding against him. The smell of her arousal was heady. Her hands left his skin ablaze everywhere she touched. It took Addie trying to wiggle her hips lower over his and create a whole new level of friction for him to realize things were going too far. Without warning his hands shot to her arms, his fingers taunting her ruthlessly.

It might have been the loudest sound in the world right in his ear but the hilarity of Addie's shrill shriek of of surprise was worth the momentary discomfort. "Damon!"

Damon laughed so hard that he made no sound. Scowling, she pushed him off her and he easily toppled over onto his back. There wasn't a break in his silent laughter until there was a pounding at the door seconds later.

"Oh, my god. That was priceless," chuckled Damon as he made to answer the door. Sharply he said, "What?"

"What?" Elena snapped. "I heard my sister screaming bloody murder!"

Addie groaned and pulled the blanket over her face; the last thing she wanted was Elena getting involved in what had just been happening. Or anything else between her and Damon.

Damon made an obvious point of waiting for Elena to elaborate. "Is that all? You automatically assume I hurt her or something? I would never do that! She's perfectly fine."

"No, the fact that she cried out after hurting you crossed my mind. I mean, really it's a surprise that one of you hasn't already killed the other," Elena admitted.

"Nope, we just scream when we're perfectly fine. Bye-bye, now," he retorted snidely, making to close the door.

"While I have you," Elena interjected, pushing on the door to keep it open, "there's something you should know about Klaus."

"No, there isn't. There is nothing about the Originals that can't wait until tomorrow. This is my time with my girl. They don't get to interrupt that. Neither do you. Good night," Damon insisted, closing the door in her face.

As Damon returned to bed, Addie gave a mocking gasp, "Elena might have needed to tell you Klaus was dead!"

"He'll still be dead tomorrow."

"She might have had a foolproof way to kill him!"

"It will likely still work tomorrow. If it's a one night only kind of deal, I'll just find another way to kill him."

She exhaled dramatically and stared up at the ceiling. Stretched out next to her, Damon prodded her in the side, making her squirm and swat at his hand. Sternly she warned, "Don't be a tease and start things you don't intend to finish."

"Sorry. Why are you all smiley?"

"You put me before your Klaus obsession," she said in a small voice, her face a shade of crimson.

Damon felt his gut wrenching in guilt. Addie never should have felt like he put Klaus before her. The fact that he'd put her face definitely shouldn't surprise or embarrass her so much into blushing. He shrugged nonchalantly and said coolly, "Yeah, well, I have this really smart girlfriend who reminded me that my priorities weren't exactly in the right order. I've done a little reevaluating since then"

"Sounds like a special girl."

"You are," Damon grinned. His lips brushed softly against hers as his fingers trailed along her jaw.

Intertwining her fingers with his, Addie whispered, "I have to admit that I'm surprised."

He chuckled, "You were very surprised."

"I'm not talking about you being a teasing bastard," she grumbled, almost pouting. "I'm just… Based on everything that's gone on, I didn't expect to end up making out with you."

"You expected me to be more pissed off," he finished for her, nodding in understanding. "I'm angry, Addie, but the only anger I feel I can rationalize towards you without feeling like a hypocrite involves Ric."

Sheepishly, Addie admitted, "Yeah, I kinda expected you to be in a maniacal rage over him."

"I had two major problems: my girlfriend and her involvement with Klaus and my psychotic, serial killing best friend. If I chose to be upset over both, I knew I'd do some things you'd never forgive me for. So I picked the problem more important to me. Alaric is an issue for another day," Damon explained.

While Addie view this as a positive sign, a sign that Damon would be extremely reasonable about Alaric, it was really a lie he did not feel guilty telling. He had worked out his anger issues with Alaric in the shower. It sucked but he was going to have to kill his best friend. There were no second thoughts or feelings of guilt associated with his decision. He'd miss his friend but he was a threat to his girlfriend. Any threat to Addie would be eliminated. He would kill Alaric.

* * *

 **A/N: Here's a little fluff piece because we all know our favorite couple needs a break, even if just for a little bit. Sorry it's a little short but this is where it felt like the natural break would be or the next chapter wouldn't be up for six weeks. And for those of you asking and wondering, this is as smutty as Damon and Addie are getting in _Hostage_ _Control_. **

**Thank you guys so much for your reviews and comments! They make my day so much brighter and definitely inspire me to keep writing, which means faster chapters ;)**

 **P.S. it's about that time of year when I start looking at new projects. How many of you would like to see this story continue into season four in Resist Control? Brief summary - a sire bond like we've never seen involving four people for the first arc, second arc we figure out just what makes Addie so unique when it comes to vampires, third arc is still a bit of a toss up but we know why Klaus is trying to actively use her - if he still can. Or I could end it here with either a happy, unknown or tragic ending... I'd really like your guy's feed backs. Even if you're not done reading, stop and take a second to respond to this lol. This is for you guys so I want to know what y'all want.**


	25. Chapter 24

It was difficult to stretch his back by just pressing his shoulder blades into the mattress but he didn't want to move too much and risk waking Addie. Unless he didn't have to worry about that; he didn't feel the familiar weight and warmth of her pressed against him that he knew he had fallen asleep to. He turned his face towards the few rays of the early morning sun and squinted one eye at her side of the bed. Damon wasn't surprised to find his girlfriend curled up, the blankets drawn over her head as she slept soundly.

He' shared his bed with a lot of girls, a few long enough to notice patterns but none of them had ever been so peculiar as Addie. On a really good night, she'd snuggle close to him and fall asleep with no issues and they'd wake up in exactly the same position but that was rare. Most nights she couldn't keep her hand from wandering, though. With the exception of when she stroked his hair, her movements meant that he had to stay awake. Eventually her legs would get twitchy and restless and he'd give up any hope on keeping her still.

She'd toss and turn, sometimes for hours, before she finally fell asleep on her own side of the bed. She was always either curled up and completely covered or stretched out with the cover kicked off of both her feet. And he would move to her side and 'cling to her as a koala,' as she said. Though all her teasing was worth waking up to her fingers in his hair and her bashful smile, as if he caught her doing something guilty but trying to seem innocent.

He would have to enjoy that little pleasure another day. He told Addie he'd deal with Ric another day and, he glanced at the clock as it flashed 5:24, technically, it was another day. He didn't bother trying to be silent or try to maneuver in minimal lighting as he got ready. Addie literally slept through alarms. It was when he was trying not to wake her and the faintest sound of a knob turning would wake her. Really, her sleep issues were bizarre.

Damon took the blood bags Addie had brought up the previous night down into the kitchen and placed them back into the fridge as he pulled out a chilled one. Living blood was always the best but bagged blood was better cold; it just had a sweeter, fresher taste than room temperature or reheated blood.

"You're awake," said a voice as Damon poured the blood into a glass.

"And you have a very bad habit of stating the obvious," he retorted smartly, raising the drink to his brother in mock salutations.

Accusingly Stefan said, "Elena said you wouldn't talk to her."

"And it's way too early for any rational person to have hero hair," stated Damon as he took a long drink, continuing the game of _state the obvious_. He had to stop his lips from curling into a smile; Addie would have made a smart remark about the 45 minutes he had spent rewetting, drying, and straightening his hair that morning and whether or not he was rational. She couldn't argue with the fact that he couldn't walk around with sex hair all day but she'd definitely have something to say about how much time and energy he put into his hair. They had very different opinions on his dark locks. Addie liked it when he left it natural and it curled into a mess. He had dealt with the annoyance until about 1910 when he found out that if he kept it shorter and brushed it into place when it was still wet, it wouldn't curl so bad. Then in the 60s he had discovered his favorite styling device: the flat iron, no matter how much Addie teased him about it. You didn't mess with what worked. Damon was very aware of the effect his appearance had on girls, and some guys; he'd even admit to being vain about it. Addie, though, she was different. She genuinely hadn't been moved by his looks until she fell for him. His girlfriend was very peculiar.

"It's about Klaus," Stefan sighed, leaning against the counter. He couldn't tell if Damon was in a good mood or a bad mood. Typically he'd be making breakfast for Addie, which was always a little odd to watch. Any time Damon and Addie were domestic it was a little bizarre for him; he hadn't noticed so much when he was with Elena. Thankfully they spent much of their time up in Damon's room.

"Elena mentioned that," he answered mildly as he tossed the empty blood bag in the trash.

Stefan exhaled impatiently, annoyed that his brother was being so dismissive of this. He was the only other person who wanted Klaus dead as much as he did. Curtly he retorted, "Did she also mention Bonnie unlinked the Originals right before I killed Finn and now Finn's bloodline is dead?"

Damon hummed in consideration as he ran the tap and rinsed out his glass. Setting it in the sink he answered slowly, "No, no, I don't think she mentioned that." He gripped the edge of the counter, his knuckles turning white as he processed the information and exactly what it all meant.

"Do you not understand how big a deal this is?!" Stefan exclaimed after watching his brother make moody faces at the sink for nearly two minutes.

"Depends," Damon muttered, stroking at his chin thoughtfully. "Do you still have the stake you used to kill Finn?"

"No, it burned up with the rest of his body."

Well, damn. That just left Alaric's stake. One stake and four Originals. He wondered if he whittled the stake down into four blow gun darts, they would be strong enough to pierce through to the heart. No, he knew even splitting the stake in two would make it unreliable. Could he reinforced it with steel or another wood?

"Damon!"

"What?" he asked incredulously. Why was Stefan acting as if the world had ended? They just needed to adjust their plan. "We still have Alaric's stake."

"Within an hour of Finn's death, Sage died and so did every vampire she turned! We can't just go around randomly killing Originals. Besides there only being one stake, we kill the one who started our bloodline and we die!" his brother explained impatiently.

He could work out the stake problem. He just had to figure out which Original started his line and kill them last. Then Addie would be safe from all the Originals, just like he had originally planned. He didn't see a problem. Indirectly killing his brother to save his girlfriend was kind of questionable but Stefan had lived several lives. Addie's was just starting.

"Damn it," Damon swore, kicking the counter. He couldn't go through with his original plan because it still meant he died. He'd be physically protecting Addie but otherwise he'd be breaking her heart. He couldn't do that to her. He had to be less selfish.

"Glad you appreciate the seriousness of the situation!"

Damon inhaled and exhaled slowly, forcing himself to keep calm; today wasn't the day he was going to flip out about Klaus. He could only handle one nutcase at a time. Calmy he reassured Stefan, "It's not that bad, brother. We just recraft Alaric's stake and figure out who we hail from."

"And how do you propose we do that?"

"Well, we were turned by Katherine. Katherine was turned by Rose. So, we, I don't know, get a ouija board and contact Rose?" he suggested offhandedly.

"A ouija board? That's your solution?" Stefan spat.

He shrugged. "We've done stupider things. Look, none of this matters if we don't have a weapon. This whole bloodline thing is a snap if you just calm down and think about it. I'll tell you what, I'll let you do that because it's the easy job and I'll handle getting the stake from the only person with mood swings worse than Addie and me combined."

Damon was out the house before Stefan had a chance to respond. He gripped his steering wheel tight, groaning as he banged his head against it. Despite loving his girlfriend, she could make his mood go from sappy to irritated in a heartbeat. Her trade was worse than he knew! She left him with one stake and four different targets. And he was going to be _really_ pissed if it turned out Klaus sired his bloodline. His whole goal for their entire relationship had been to give them a Klaus free life; if he could never do that, he'd never know what they could truly be.

This new information about the Originals presented a new level of problems that Damon was not ready to deal with. Before dealing with that, he was going to take care of the one problem he knew how to solve.

* * *

Damon ran a hand over his face as he looked around Alaric's apartment. It looked like a tornado had ripped through it. When Damon had walked in and found the jar of yellow and green herbs that were supposed to be suppressing Alaric's alter ego untouched, he might have gotten a little carried away in his search for the stake. Drawers, cabinets, bookshelves and more had all been ramshacked. He had looked everywhere to no avail.

A loud, siren like ringing issued from his pocket, making Damon sigh wearily. It had been the most annoying ringtone he could find for the most annoying person. Answering his cell he snapped, "What?"

"No 'good morning?' How rude," answer a cool English accent.

"Again, what?" snarled Damon.

"Fine. You're going to get that last White Oak stake for me," Klaus said certainly.

Damon pilfered through the drawers in Alaric's kitchen for a fifth time in search of the mentioned stake. He was not in the mood for Klaus' games. Dry and bitter he questioned, "Why would I be stupid enough to hand over a weapon that could finally kill you?"

"I always thought Addison was a bit short for track but she is definitely fast. Must be because she stretches so well before running," commented Klaus, vaguely suggestive.

He glanced at the clock on the stove; it was much latter than he thought. Addie would be at practice before class. That sick bastard. Through gritted teeth Damon growled, "Stay away from her."

"I'm merely keeping an eye on my investment since you seem incapable of doing so. There happens to be a crazed vampire hunter interested in killing her," he retorted, just as calm and collected as always. Nonchalantly he added, "You should know that the only reason I haven't ripped your heart out is because you are useful to me; you protect Addison. The second you cease to do that and become more trouble than you're worth, I will end you."

"I'm going to kill you," seethed Damon, his voice low and dangerous.

Klaus chuckle smugly, "No, you're not. Your girlfriend won't let you. I mean, why else would she keep standing in your way? She told me about your plan with Mikael. She handed over your stakes. You can't kill me without upsetting Addison."

"Well, I guess it's a good thing Addie is used to me pissing her off." Damon hurled a couch cushion across the room as he reminded himself that Addie had done all that to save him, not Klaus. He'd already checked the couch for the stake; he checked the whole damn apartment. "Besides, she wasn't exactly honest with you about the stakes. Had you not blackmailed her best friend into un-uniting you and your siblings by threatening the life of her brother, you'd be dead. See, she is a good person and if it wasn't for the fact that you keep threatening everyone she loves, she might actually be convinced into caring about your life."

"I think that pretty much explains why she loves you. She has a particular fondness for people who are useless. Really, what good are you to her if you can't protect her? She was the one attacked saving you. And still you let her go about unprotected as that history teacher stalks about unchecked."

"I'm taking care of Ric," he snapped defensively. He didn't need to be reminded about the danger Addie had put herself in for him. He had hoped to get to Ric's before he left for school in hopes of handling the situation but Ric wasn't at the apartment. Which was particularly odd since his car was in there.

"Right," Klaus said, sounding unconvinced. "You have two tasks: getting me that stake and making sure that Alaric Saltzman is no longer a threat to my investments. Until then you follow through with both of those consider Addison… under my protection."

* * *

Her arms extended and back arched as Addie groaned as her muscles loosened from sleep as she stretched. Interesting. Her first instinct always was to stretch in the morning but there was usually a solid mass restricting any range of motion she had. She rolled away from the sun shining through the windows and her eyelids, towards Damon. A wandering hand reached out searching for him, only to find an empty bed, the cover pulled up on his side. Addie grimaced, decisively grumpy as she peered out of one barely opened eye. Waking up with Damon was preferable to the glorious sensation of a morning stretch. She made a loud noise of protest and pulled her pillow over her head as she spied the clock on his night stand.

Knowing she was already late for track practice and would have to miss it entirely as she still had to stop by her house and pick up her things for school, Addie took her time getting ready. She could always call and ask her sister to grab her stuff but she doubted Elena would be in any morod to help her after their little showdown over Damon. Addie shook her head in disbelief as she followed the scent of coffee into the kitchen, expecting to find Damon. She could believe they actually had fought over the same guy.

"Good morning," greeted Stefan from a spot at the kitchen table, a mug of coffee and a book with him.

"Morning," Addie said sheepishly, surprised at his presence. She wasn't sure why; it wasn't as if they hadn't had many encounters just like this. Though, it wasn't usually just them. She looked around the kitchen as she move towards the coffee maker, grabbing a mug and pouring a cup. "Have you seen Damon?"

"Yeah, he left pretty early this morning," nodded his brother.

"Oh," was all Addie could say. It was odd for Damon to let her wake up without him and not leaving behind a note about why. The spoon clinked against the glass as she blended the milk and sugar into the coffee.

After she had put the spoon into the dishwasher Stefan asked, " Are you aware of everything that's going on?"

Addie sipped at the hot drink, burning the tip of her tongue as she thought. Elena had wanted to tell Damon something about Klaus the previous night but he wouldn't let her say anything. She studied Stefan's grim face for any sign of just how bad the news was. This was not how she wanted to start her day. She sighed heavily and took a seat at the table across from him and admitted, "No, I don't think I know. I just know Klaus is aware of where my brother is and blackmailed Bonnie into unlinking him and his siblings by threatening to hurt Jeremy."

"That's just the beginning of our problems," mused Stefan, tapping his daylight ring on the table as he thought of everything he had to cover. He should let Damon explain but he didn't want Addie blindsided when someone began rambling on about their issues at school. "We didn't know Bonnie had unlinked the Originals when I staked Finn last night. He died and the White Oak stake burned up with his body."

"So we just have Alaric's stake, assuming his alter ego feels like handing it over, and four more Originals, who are most likely going to be quite vengeful," Addie reasoned out as she traced the rim of her coffee mug.

"It's more complicated than that," exhaled Stefan, shifting in his chair uncomfortably. "Finn turned Sage and Sage turned this other guy to be her - actually, the why isn't important. What matters is that within an hour of killing Finn, Sage and the guy she turn both died for no apparent reason. It seems that if you kill an Original, their entire bloodline dies."

"Guess we should be thanking Klaus for forcing Bonnie to unlink them, otherwise you, Damon, Caroline, Tyler, and Abby would all be dead," Addie grumbled sardonically. She ran a hand through hair. Of course Damon would have an obsession with killing a guy that could possibly result in his death. Despite their seemingly good communication the previous night, Addie highly doubted Damon was going to stop searching for a way to kill Klaus. He was just going to look for a safer way rather than being reckless and willingly suicidal. However, if Damon had a chance of killing Klaus and a 75% chance of not dying, Addie didn't doubt he would take that chance. That wasn't acceptable to her. "Have you told Damon about all this?"

"Yeah."

"And?"

"Well, he's convinced I should use a Ouija board to contact Ross and ask who turned her since she turned Katherine and views this whole bloodline issue as a minor inconvenience," Stefan answered too casually for Addie not realize just how ridiculous he felt Damon was being. "He's more worried about getting the last stake from Alaric."

At least Damon was thinking. If they could confirm that Klaus hand turned his bloodline then ok, if he had, maybe she could talk him out of killing Klaus. It was unlikely but it was better than nothing. Addie took a sip of her coffee and wondered, "Would a Ouija board actually work?"

"No as there's no real magic there." How could neither one of them have the appropriate, freakout reaction to learning that they may not be able to kill Klaus?

"So, Damon's suggestion is to talk to Rose's spirit but you'd need magic to do that?" she checked for clarification, an idea formulating.

"The only spirits I know of communicating with living people are those of dead witches with current witches. Rose wasn't a witch."

Reasonably Addie corrected, "Vicki Donovan communicated with her brother Matt."

"Yeah but she had a witch on the Other Side helping her and whatever that was, it was dark magic."

"Still," she shrugged and took a sip of coffee. "You know, when Bonnie brought Jeremy back to life, he was talking with Anna's spirit. There wasn't any dark magic going on there. Well, other than the fact that she was crazy and a bunch of people almost died because she didn't want to hand over Elena's damn necklace but I'm not convinced that a person being a little twisted in the head is dark magic."

Addie waited for Stefan to catch up with her train of thought but he seemed to be lost in his own as he continued tapping his daylight ring on the table. Rolling her eyes she pointedly said, "Elena had Damon compel Jeremy to Denver to keep him safe. Klaus obviously knows he's there and no one in Denver to protect him."

"You want to bring him back to Mystic Falls?" Stefan said slowly.

She shrugged innocently. "I don't see why not. At least here Elena and I have you and Damon and Bonnie all looking out for us."

"And Alaric," he added.

Her head tilted curiously at him. She supposed Damon hadn't told him about her little incident with Alaric's alter ego. Perhaps he wanted to keep that quiet to protect his friend or he didn't want to think about it because he might get too mad. Addie nodded in agreement; she wasn't going to blab if Damon didn't want it discussed. "Right. It was safer for him to be gone when Klaus didn't know where he was but now…. I think someone needs to go and get him. I don't trust that Klaus won't try and hurt him if he travels back alone. He obviously has someone watching him."

"That's not a bad idea. Of course, you should discuss it with your sister before you do anything."

"She shipped him off without talking to me first," Addie muttered bitterly. Louder, more diplomatically she said, "I don't think Elena's going to want to hear anything I have to say for awhile and I highly doubt she's in the mood to agree with me on anything, even if it does involve Jeremy. We are… things are complicated."

Stefan nodded slowly in understanding, awkwardly rubbing at the back of his neck, "Yeah, I, uh, overheard you guys outside Alaric's loft."

"You know she's only interested in Damon because she doesn't feel she can have who she really wants," she said softly.

"That's not-"

"I know my sister, Stefan. She loves you. Her thing for Damon is some idealized version of him that she's trying to warp him into being like you. Even Damon knows that. First you were physically unavailable and then you were emotionally unavailable and, in Elena's mind, Damon's been both. Although, that's partially Damon's fault and mine for hiding our relationship so for that I apologize. Stefan, if she just knew you were still interested, which I know you are, she would be right there waiting for you as if nothing had changed," Addie professed instantly, partially to see her sister and Stefan happy again, partially to remind Elena that she, in fact, did not want Damon. "Look, just convince her to bring Jeremy back and you two go to get him. Give yourselves a bit of a chance to feel each other out. I know you both still have feelings for each other."

"I don't know, Addie."

"Well, someone has to get Jeremy and the sooner the better," she said as if it settled the matter once and for all. "He might be the solution if we can get him to talk to Rose's spirit. He pushes from this side by thinking about her and she pushes from the Other Side by wanting to help us." Under her breath she bitterly added "I can't imagine her not wanting to help protect Damon." She still wasn't fond of the past relationship between the two vampires.

"You and Damon can go get him," Stefan protested.

"I have a test in English on Tuesday, Latin on Wednesday, and math on Thursday. I can't exactly afford to miss school. And I doubt Damon is going to go without me. I also doubt Jeremy would leave without either Elena or me talking to him. That leaves you and Elena having to go. I mean, unless you think it's a good idea to send her without protection," Addie argued logically as she rinsed out her coffee mug and placed it into the dishwasher.

* * *

There was a sharp pinching sensation on Addie's left side as her feet pounded against the black rubber-like track. She focused on inhaling and exhaling as smoothly and continuously through both her nose and her mouth at the same time. As fatigue set in it was all too easy for runners to start gasping for breaths. Addie loathed the fall semester; it meant cross country running, which was her nemesis. For missing practice that morning her coached had tacked on an extra five miles to her her afternoon practice. Running around in a circle for 15 miles was extremely boring. In the spring she would have been assigned to do a greater number of sprints and dashes. At least with those she was trying to be faster than the last time for each one.

This particular day of practice was extra awful because from the left the locker room to start on warm up stretches to the last of her 15 miles, she could see Damon's car in the school parking lot. It was too far away for her to tell if he was actually in the car but either way, there was no rational reason for him to be at the school. She glanced around the track as she finished, slowing down to a light jog. The football team was still practicing but the cheerleaders and everyone else on the track team had already headed back into the locker rooms.

Changing to a walk, Addie headed towards the parking lot instead of the locker rooms. If Damon was stalking her, she damn well deserved to know why. She placed her hands on her hips defiantly as she saw him get out off the car, his arms resting on the hood as he glared at her.

"What the hell is your problem?" she demanded in a low voice as she stood on the other side of the Camero.

Damon scoffed in disbelief and sneered, "Are you the _only_ teenage girl in this generation of idiots who is not glued to her cell phone?"

Addie blinked, once, twice. He was actually serious. She spoke with exaggerated slowness, as if she was trying to understand a very difficult concept. "You have a stick up your ass because I don't feel like my cellphone is an extension of who I am, a fact you've admitted to liking about me?"

That wasn't his point. He wasn't going to let her twist this around and make him the bad guy. Sharply he snapped, "What's the point of you even having one if I can't reach you in the event of an emergency?"

"Well, luckily I am apparently 'the _only_ teenage girl in this generation of idiots who is not glued to her cell phone' and you have the number to my best friends and sister, who would be glued to their phones and you would be able to reach them in the event of an emergency and they could then relay such information to me," she argued simply.

"I _did_ have to call your sister," he bit. " _You_ weren't answering your phone so I had to make sure you were ok."

Addie licked her lips as her expression became very grim. In a perfectly serious voice she apologize, "I'm so sorry, Damon. I-I should have answered. It was selfish of me to go through an entire day of school, like I have always done, without checking in with you. I really could have gotten a papercut from textbook and started to bleed out and you never would have known until it was too late to do anything."

"I'm being serious, Addison! This is not something for you to be a smartass over!" Damon exclaimed, his hand slapping on the convertible top. The sound it made against the taut fabric made Addie jump. "Klaus has taken things to a new level. He's _stalking_ you. He was watching you a practice this morning."

"Are you drunk?" she asked, baffled.

"What?"

"Well, you're either drunk or crazy, er, crazier than usual."

He let out a noise of frustration as he tugged at the ends of his hair. "Damn it, Addie. When are you going to take him as a serious threat? He's not someone to joke about!"

"Oh, I never said I'm not taking him seriously but I'm not _quite_ convinced into taking you seriously. From where I stand, you're the one watching me at practice and stalking me, not him," she snorted."

"He-"

"I wasn't even at practice this morning," she said loudly, cutting him off. At his confused expression she shrugged, "If you don't believe me, ask Stefan. I woke up late."

Damon shook his head and insisted, "He said he was watching you. He said he was keeping an eye on his investments and you were under _his_ protection."

"He was probably provoking you into this exact reaction because he knows just how annoying I find it when your _protectiveness_ turns you into an extremist nutcase."

"Maybe," Damon muttered, unconvinced.

Addie sighed and brushed a sweaty strand of hair off her forehead, "Look, don't you think we have bigger problems right now than letting Klaus get under your skin?"

"Yeah, yeah, I guess," he admitted. When he hadn't been trying to get in touch with Addie, Damon had been trying to locate Ric, which had proven to be unsuccessful. He would prefer to locate him before another body turned up missing.

"Good," she grinned. "You wanna catch a bite at the Grill after I shower and change? I have a little bit of time before I need to start studying."

He didn't care what Addie said. Klaus was not lying about Addie being under his protection as long as Ric and his alter ego roamed free. Damon shook his head. "I can't; like you said, bigger problems. Look, for my peace of mind, would you mind just going straight home after you're done here?"

"Fine," Addie agreed, only because she knew whatever Klaus had said to Damon had really bothered him. He had staged a melodramatic stake out at her track practice. "You'll come by?"

"Always. I just might not make it in until pretty late tonight so don't wait up." With all his attention on Ric, hopefully finding him wouldn't take too long.

"I'll probably still be up studying," Addie shrugged, giving him a diffident smile. Going to bed was always so much better when Damon was right there next to her to hold her.

* * *

Addie's key twisted in the old lock with a familiar ease. Damon, for the third night in a row, had told her to expect him to be late because he had _bigger problems_ to deal with. He was being decisively cryptic. He'd immediately shut down and change the topic whenever she tried to press him for more details. The issue was that he was coming in when she was already in bed, simply unable to fall asleep because he wasn't there and he was gone by the time she woke up, essentially leaving her with no time to try and get more information out of him. A secretive Damon was unsettling. It didn't help that he seemed to be getting into a progressively grumpier mood.

She knew Damon would probably have a fit for her being at the boarding house since Klaus could get in but she really didn't care. If he was going to be so paranoid about her safety, then he could at least tell her what he was up to. Addie gasped in surprised as two hands slammed the door behind her trapping her between two arms and a solid mass at her back.

"I almost attacked you," a voice growled angrily in her ear.

The pungent scent of alcohol made Addie's nose scrunch up. What the hell was he doing here? Testily she retorted, "Aren't you supposed to be working on some _big_ problem?"

The problem had been handled for the most part. There was a body in the new freezer in the cellar that he would have to deal with but he wasn't going to worry about that tonight. Too much had already happened. Damon used his fingertips to push off against the door and took a few step back from Addie. He ran a hand over his face, a couple of days of stubble scratching at his palm. He had been too distracted to worry about shaving.

"You're not supposed to be here," scolded Damon, turning and heading back towards the study. There was no point in arguing with her; if she wanted to be at the boarding house, she wasn't going to leave just because he told her too.

"Yeah, well, unless your project involves raiding your liquor cabinet and library, I imagine you're supposed to be working on your super secret project," Addie remarked challengingly, shifting her hefty backpack from her right shoulder to her left.

Addie watched as Damon peered into the cupboard of his liquor cabinet, noticing the the three empty decanters, which were typically full, sitting on the top. After a moment of consideration, he selected a new bottle of poison.

He pointed the bottle of amber liquid at himself and dejectedly said, "I'm celebrating the success of my super secret project." He gestured the bottle towards her as he moved to sit in one of the comfortable, plush lounge chairs and continued, "That doesn't explain what you're doing here."

"What's wrong?" she asked in concern, setting her bag down near the end of the couch.

"I don't want to discuss it, Addie," he said clear and firm, leaving no room for discussion.

It was clear from his vacant expression and the surplus of alcohol that something was definitely troubling him; his _celebrating_ seemed to be more in line with his demeanor in the event of a failure. Although, she wasn't sure she should push him to talk about it but Addie wanted to be there in case he did.

"So, is it ok if I study here?" She asked lightly. Damon eyed her as if he wasn't certain of what she was asking. "It's the night of the living preschoolers, also known as Halloween. My doorbell is going to be ringing non-stop; there's no way I'll be able to concentrate. Your house is isolated enough that I doubt anyone will come by."

"And you forgot to buy candy," he accused as he opened the new bottle of alcohol and took a swig.

"No! Elena bought candy." Elena and Stefan had left that afternoon for Denver to pick up Jeremy.

"So it's really because you hate children with a deep rooted passion and view them as the parasites of society."

"I only ever called fetuses and babies parasites," Addie corrected as she sat on the floor between the coffee table and the couch. She dug into her backpack for her index cards, highlighter, spiral, and textbook. "Children, once they reach the age of being able to do household chores, reach the status of being commensalistic. The only time children are ever mutualistic is when you're old and senile and you need someone to pay to put you into a nice nursing home."

Damon snorted humorlessly, "And we're going to end this relationship so you can go and have kids, which you are obviously so fond of."

She shrugged but didn't give anymore acknowledgement to his comment. She was not going to argue with Damon about the future when he was obviously drunk. The whole point of setting ground rules and boundaries was to avoid fighting about such topics. Sober, she knew he understood that and accepted that. Drunk, well, he'd never been particularly happy about the arrangement and had begrudgingly entered into it.

Addie was using a flashcard she had made to check and she had memorized the formula for the area of a polar equation when she heard a loud _crash_ and _woosh_ as the flames in the fireplace momentarily swelled. In surprised she called out chastising, "Damon!"

Glancing over his shoulder, Damon's brow furrowed as he realized Addie was sitting on the floor, obviously studying. How long had she been doing that? He stared back into the orange and red flames that licked at the burning wood and muttered, "Sorry, forgot you were here."

"What's wrong, Damon? Why are you so mad?" Addie said gently, almost pleading for him to talk to her.

He shook his head as he sat on one end of the sofa, casually throwing one arm along the armrest and the other along the back. "Nothing's wrong. I'm not mad."

Her lips pursed as she fought the urge to call out his blatant lies. He might not want to talk about it but Damon did want some comfort. She knew he was too proud to simply ask for a hug, even if he was certain she would say yes. The closest he would come to asking was moving from his solitary chair to the couch and situating himself in a manner that made it easy for her to cuddle up next to him.

"I think I'm done studying for now," Addie decided as she checked the time on her phone. She stretched her arms above her head and arch her back against the couch as she looked inquiringly at Damon, "The old Cary Grant movie _Arsenic and Old Lace_ is going to be starting in a few minutes. You wanna watch?"

"Seriously?" Damon asked, arching an eyebrow at her. He was pleasantly surprised she wasn't going to keep trying to get him to talk.

"Well, you know I think you have more of a James Dean style but he doesn't have any Halloween movies. You're convinced Cary Grant is a cheap knockoff of you and he happens to be in a Halloween movie starting soon and it's Halloween. I mean, it just kind of added up to seemingly make sense but if you don't wanna watch it that's cool," she explained. She knew she had him hooked when he gave her his full attention as she started shuffling through her index cards again. She bit the inside of her lip to keep from smiling.

"I didn't say I didn't want to watch," he corrected her quickly. "I'm just surprised that you want to watch a Halloween movie. You were just complaining a few days ago about how lame its origins are with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain and people would light fires and wear makes to be mistaken for ghost because fellow ghost roamed the earth. Then you remembered Mystic Fall's little encounter with ghost and got all scared," he teased.

Defensively Addie said, "I didn't get scared. I just think the idea of celebrating a whole day of ghosts is stupid. But _Arsenic and Old Lace_ has nothing to do with ghost and is only a Halloween movie in the sense that the events happen on Halloween so I hold no prejudice against it."

"But if it had ghosts in it you wouldn't watch it?" Damon frowned, trying to figure out her reasoning.

"Correct."

"That makes no sense."

"That's because you've had too much to drink."

"No, no. I'm quite certain that would not make sense to anyone but you, Ads."

Addie turned off the lights and grabbed the remote and a throw from the opposite end of the couch and grinned at Damon. "Well, that's why you love me. I can make sense out of nonsense."

His arm curled around her shoulder as she sat next to him, his fingertips gliding in random patterns across her silky skin. "Are you implying that I talk nonsense?"

"Of course not," she replied sarcastically as she pointed the remote at the rarely used flat screen that hung above the fireplace. So close to him she could tell just how strongly of alcohol he smelled.

"That's nonsense."

Addie hushed him as she spread the blanket out over them; she knew he didn't get cold but it was a force of habit. Damon kissed her temple as the movie began and she twisted one arm around his neck and draped the other across his lower stomach, gently grabbing at his shirt. He loved how she knew just what he need without him saying a word.

"You are so Grant's character," Damon muttered awhile latter, not really watching the film. He'd seen it at least 30 times.

She hummed in consideration, "Because I hangout with serial killers and everyone around me is insane?"

"No. 'Marriage is old-fashioned. It's a superstition,'" he said in his best imitation of Cary Grant. He chortled bitterly, "And yet, we're ending so you can chase after something you don't even believe in to have a family you don't even want."

"Is this what's bothering you? Is there something you want to say to me? Do you suddenly have a problem with a plan we both agreed to?" she demanded, starting to pull away from him.

"No," Damon said quickly, tightening his arm around her shoulder, grabbing her hand as it started to slip from around his neck. He winced at the way his voice cracked.

It was brief and fleeting but Addie didn't miss the quick flash of panic that shot through his eyes. Fighting for her patience, she gently asked, "'No' what, Damon?"

Damon frowned as Alaric's words echoed in his head, " _The only smart thing Addie's done is already made it clear that she will end things with you. Whether today, tomorrow, or in 14 years, you've already lost her. She will leave you and you will be left with nothing but pain and misery."_

"Just no," he whispered. He cleared his throat and looked back towards the screen.

Addie sighed and trained her eyes on the movie as well but she doubted either one of them were paying attention it. Next to her, Damon was too tense. She couldn't tell what emotions were causing so much trouble for him. It was sometimes very difficult being in a relationship where there were so many communication issues.

When her hand somehow found it's way into his hair sometime latter, Damon let his eyes close as his head followed her hand. He sighed softly as her fingers threaded through the soft strands, occasionally massaging at his scalp. Addie had very quickly turned playing with his hair into a guilty pleasure for both of them. He felt some of his anger begin to ebb away.

As the credit began to roll, Addie used her free hand to press the power button on the remote, silencing the TV. The only sounds left in the were the crackling and popping from the fireplace and Damon's even, deep breathing. He'd been so still and quiet for the last half of the movie that she wasn't certain he was even awake.

Damon inhaled and exhaled slowly, trying to clear his mind from the day's events. He just wanted to forget everything. He wanted to ignore it all. Blocking things out and not dealing with this you didn't want to was so much easier when he was the bad guy. And when his every movement wasn't being critically analyzed. Barely moving his lips he grumbled, "You're staring."

Her cheeks coloring, she mumbled, "I thought you were asleep."

"Just thinking," he said softly as he shook his head slowly.

Addie hummed curiously as she tilted his head down. The warmth of her breath spread over his lips as she wondered, "About?"

His eyes flashed open, surprising her. She went to pull back but he firmly caught her face between both his hands. In the dim light, Damon's eyes looked darker than usual, even with the flames of the fire reflecting in them. His mouth brushed teasingly against hers as he confessed, "Exactly how much I love you."

"And how much might that be?"

He gave her a firm kiss rather than answering. His love wasn't quantifiable. A fingertip trailed along her jaw bone, down the column of her neck and lodged itself under the collar of her red and black long sleeve plaid shirt. His thumb twisted in the strap of her tank as the rest of his cool hand cupped her shoulder.

Addie's grip on his shirt tightened as she pulled him closer. Of course Damon would rather makeout than talk about anything remotely close to how he was really feeling. It was only further confirmation for her that something was genuinely bothering him. It wasn't like him to not simply tell her the truth.

She inhaled sharply, fingers curling into the back of his hair as he nipped sharply at her bottom lip. His tongue gave a soothing swipe at it before exploring her mouth. His kiss was deep, slow, and passionate. He mixed too many liquors for her to distinguish any unique flavors other than a sweet aftertaste, a striking contrast to the bitter alcohol. One hand was tracing very distracting designs at the top of her back but his free one pushed at her hip. Addie gave a soft, petulant groan and clutched at his shirt and head, holding him to her, as he scooted her until she sat in the middle of the sofa.

"Something wrong?" smirked Damon as he pulled back slightly. He knew she was thinking he was pushing her away.

She felt her cheeks flush under his heated gaze. It was just _Damon_ , Addie reminded herself. Damon loved to make her uncomfortable, even if he just meant it in a teasing manner. Gathering her nerves she looked him in the eye and boldly said, "That depends."

He hummed thoughtfully. He liked Addie being comfortable with him; of course, that didn't change the fact that he loved making her blush. Both of his hands skimmed lightly over the curve of her shoulder, her skin gliding like silk under his confident touch. He slowly peeled the plaid shirt down her arms until it gather where her elbow bent as her hands wrapped around his neck. He cocked an eyebrow at her and though his tone was teasing, Addie knew he was serious when he asked, "Is this wrong?"

"No," she said softly, shrugging off the shirt and letting it fall to the floor.

He pressed a tender, loving kiss to her lips as he guided her to lay back onto the catch, moving a throw pillow under her head. Her hands traced over the swell of his biceps as he leaned over her, supporting his weight on his hands at either side of her head. The pressure he used was feather light, his lips so soft. Each time Addie tried to kiss him more properly, he would pull back. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of making her sigh impatiently. She knew he was smirking and enjoying teasing her. A chill ran through her as his hands slid under her black tank, gently lifting the shirt.

"How about this?" he said when he had her shirt rolled up just below her bar, a single finger skimming just below the fabric. His voice was huskier and less playful than he intended. "Is this wrong?"

Damon couldn't clearly read Addie's expression in the dim lighting but from her deep breath and the adorable way she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. He quickly shook his head and apologize, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-"

"It's not you," Addie sighed in exasperation as she grabbed at his forearms, stopping him from pulling her shirt back down.

His head tilted and brow furrowed as he tried to read the mixed signals. Skeptically he inquired, "Is this one of those 'it's not you, it's me' speeches?"

"No," she giggled nervously. "It's a...well, we're both ready for that next step; I just didn't expect that next step to be _tonight_."

He shook his head slowly. "I'm really not following you."

"Ugh," Addie groaned, covering her flushed face with her hands.

"It's ok," Damon reassured her, pressing a quick kiss to the part of her forehead her fingers weren't covering. "You know my rule: if you can't talk about it, you're not ready for it."

Her words were muffled from behind her hands but Damon could hear her obvious frustration as she whine, "This isn't exactly fair. You strip off your shirt and you automatically look perfect."

"Hey," he said gently, taking her hands and interlacing their fingers. Her face was scarlet as she turned away from him and looked into the fire, the flames causing shadows to flicker across her face. He wasn't sure if he was more upset at himself for putting her into a position where she had these doubts or with her for doubting him. Firmly he ordered, "Look at me." Slowly, reluctantly, she did. Damon cupped her face, gently brushing his thumb over her soft cheek. "You are, without a doubt, the most exquisite person I have ever met. You are gorgeo-"

"I don't have issues with you seeing me, Damon. Really, it's nothing you haven't seen before. Of

ourse when you saw me in my bikini top there wasn't anything romantic about that situation."

"No, there definitely wasn't anything romantic about bleeding you almost to death," he interrupted with a chuckle. "But, like you said, it's nothing I haven't seen before. You weren't embarrassed then so I don't get why you would be now. If anything, you should be more comfortable with me now."

Addie's lips pursed as she considered how to answer him. "Like I said, I didn't spend tonight to end up like this. It's not that I'm embarrassed or not ready it's just… I'm a little more ready for a lazy, lame night studying, not a romantic time with my boyfriend," she finished, turning red again.

A crease formed between Damon's eyebrows as they knitted together in confusion, realization slowly coming to him. His lips twisted into a smirk as he shifted her tank aside and hooked a finger under her bra strap, gently tugging. "You think I want you wearing some kind of fancy lingerie or something?"

"Well…," Addie trailed off bashfully.

Damon's frowned as the imagine came to mind. It was very difficult to imagine Addie. For one, she wasn't bold enough. Second, it just wasn't her style. Perhaps on a very special occasion he could see her in something fancy.

"No," he insisted, shaking his head to further emphasize his point. "I don't want you in lingerie or anything but what you already own." Seeing the perplexed look on her face he explained, "If you wore anything but simple and practical, that just wouldn't be right."

Addie rolled her eyes and scowled slightly, "Oh, come on. We both know cheerleaders, sorority girls, and generally those that are just high maintenance are your type. Simple and practical isn't really your taste."

He couldn't help but chuckle and brush a lock of hair behind her ear, "Love, you might not be high maintenance when it comes to appearances but all the rest of you is so high maintenance that it drives me ten types of crazy. And I love each and every moment of it. Also, your simple and practical means that I don't have to fight you for the bathroom in the morning. I know people think I wake up looking amazing but it actually takes time to get my hair to look this perfect."

"Actually," smirked Addie, pushing her fingers through his hair and disheveling it as much as possible, "you're definitely sexiest when you first wake up and your hair is a disarray. Also, there's like ten bathrooms in this place so I don't see why we would ever need to fight over one."

"Because...um...well, obviously, my bathroom has the best shower pressure and the best bathtub and it's very close to the greatest place in this entire house, my bed. Plus, you'd miss out on one hell of a show," he said confidently, flashing a toothy grin at her.

Nodding slowly to herself she said contemplatively, "I probably wouldn't always be so rushed in the morning if you would just act like a normal person and brush your teeth _before_ you shower."

Damon snorted comically at the idea. "I'd be stupid to do that. See, you have this weakness for my bare chest an-"

"That's not fair! I do not!" she protested, her face flushing.

"It's perfectly fair," Damon stated in the most nonchalant voice he could manage. "I lose my senses when it comes to your eyes and when you blush my heart stops. Considering you do that at almost every other word I say, it's amazing I haven't desiccated yet. And of course, I'm a sucker for your neck," he concluded with a seductive, predatory grin.

"I don't know if that line was meant to be funny or flirtatious but either way it was _bad_ ," Addie reproached teasingly, heavily emphasizing the last word.

"I think you just like being mean to me."

"That's not true," she said, batting her eyelashes at him innocently. "I just like to help keep your ego in check. Without Alaric and me, you'd be walking around like you were the master of the universe."

"True," he nodded but his voice sounded disconnected from his thoughts.

At her words, Addie could feel him grab her hand a little tighter, feel the muscles of his arm tense. A guard had gone up around him. What little, loving playful expression reflected in his eyes from the firelight, was suddenly gone and his eyes were blank and hard.

"You mean to tell me that I am, in fact, _not_ the master of the universe," Damon retorted in appalled disbelief, trying to keep up the light tone.

Gently she held his cheek, his scruff tickling her palm. She softly reassured him, "You don't have to put on an act for me, Damon."

"I'm not acting," he muttered, as he leaned into her warm touch, his eyes slipping closed.

"No," Addie agreed, half tempted to pull her hand away, but she wanted him to confide in her and she wasn't sure that be so confrontational was exactly the best approach. "Now you're just lying to me."

"I'm not lying. I'm fine."

"So your idea of celebrating a victory is drinking through half your wine cellar alone, bitter, and angry?" she challenged, referring to when she had first arrived. "Come on. You've been acting strange for days. Talk to me." When he didn't answer she deployed her best pout and tried to guilt him into speaking. "You wouldn't leave me alone until I talked to you if you saw me so bothered."

Damon sighed, and resting his weight on one elbow, he stretched his other arm out in front of him, gently tugging pulling Addie's hand above her head as ther fingers were still entwined. He reached over over his shoulder and let his fingers ensnare her wrist. He rested that hand next to the other and pinned both of them against the arm of the couch with a single hand. A lone finger traced along her jawbone, stopping just under her chin to tilt her face towards his. His voice was low and seductive as he murmured against her lips,"You play the part of a loving, devoted girlfriend far too well."

Addie tried to pull her hands away from him but it was futile. When he tried to kiss her, she quickly turned her head so he only caught her cheek. She didn't like this game. Sourly she reminded him, "You're the one who wanted me to play that part."

"I know but - nevermind," Damon decided, quickly rethinking his words.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Impatiently she huffed, "You were going to say something."

"Then I changed my mind."

"What were you going to say?"

"Nothing."

"You know that makes no sense, right? You can't just say you were going to say something and then say you weren't going to say anything," she retorted, a hint of sass in her tone.

He gave her a weary look. "I'm trying to _avoid_ this fight, Addison. Stop trying to start it."

"Then just tell me what you were going to say."

"That would defeat my whole point in not saying it to begin with," he snarled.

"You're cranky," Addie said bluntly, finally voicing the thought that had been running through her mind all night.

It was obvious his patience was being tested as Damon slowly said, "Yes, I'm in a bad mood. Are you happy now that I've admitted it?"

She tried to free her hands again but he still wouldn't let go. "Of course not. There are many reasons I'm unhappy to hear that you're in a bad mood."

"Like?"

"Like you… like you sabotage your own happiness and just make things worse by acting out."

"Yeah," Damon agreed roughly, shaking his head dejectedly."That's why I didn't want to be around you."

Addie's lips pursed in thought as she tried to reason that. She couldn't. She said slowly, "I'm the person you're supposed to open and honest with, the person you can be yourself around."

"I think we can both admit that I can do some pretty destructive things when I'm myself, particularly if I'm upset in any manner."

"I would never be stupid enough to argue that," she agreed quickly, "but, Damon, it me. I know your good and your bad."

"And if you know my bad, you should know exactly why I should stay away from you when I'm upset!" he groaned in exasperation, burying his face in the pillow next to her head. The familiar scent of cucumber melon filled his nose. It was heady and intoxicating.

Addie tugged against his hold again. She wanted, _no_ , needed to touch him. There was such desperation and despair in his voice. She wanted to ease his pain but that wasn't going to work if he wasn't willing to give a little. "No, I have no idea why you think you should stay away from me. You are always the first person I run to when something is wrong."

"Mmm, I think you spend more time running to Klaus 'cause I've screwed up somehow," he muttered bitterly.

"I am _not_ going to argue with you over Klaus. You're deflecting!"

"Like you don't?!" Damon snapped back testily, his voice muffled by the pillow. It was a crime they were both guilty of. Communication in general was a hurdle in their relationship.

A deep breath in, a backwards count from ten and Addie felt collected again. She turned her head towards him, her lips brushing just below his ear as she gently tried to reason, "I'm not even asking you to tell me why you're upset at this point. I just want to know what's so horrible about the idea of being around me."

"There's nothing awful about being around you; I love being around you," he reassured her, resting his forehead against hers. In the dim light he could see the innocent and slightly hurt look in her wide eyes. His own slipped shut, unable to meet the scrutiny of her gaze. "Just put it together, Addison. You say I act out when I'm upset and you're right. What do I turn to?"

"Generally alcohol, murder and sex," she rattled off without thought. "Not necessarily in that order."

"Right," Damon replied with a false perkiness in his voice. "Despite the fact that I _want_ to feed on someone until they're dead but my girlfriend seems to have this ethical dilemma about being with a serial killer so I do try to not give into those tendencies. I had planned on spending and seeing if I could reach a whole new level of intoxication and testing the idea if it is possible for a vampire to have a hangover but now that my girlfriend's here, that doesn't seem like a good idea because I'd probably end up saying a lot of shit that would result in me no longer having said girlfriend."

He was about to continue but Addie interrupted him thoughtfully, "This girlfriend sounds like she limits you from being who you really are."

"Because I respect her? I choose not to act on my desire to kill because I want to be the kind of man you deserve. I don't want to be around you and drink excessively when I'm upset because, well, you know I have a temper. You saw me throw that bottle earlier. Of course I'd never direct my violence at you but I still don't want you to see me like that." He gave her a small smile as he brushed the backs of his fingers along her cheek and lovingly professed, "You don't limit me Ads; you set me free."

"That's cheesy. What, um, what about your third vice?" she asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

"You mean sex?" he teased, flashing one of his most seductive grins. He groaned softly. He was so screwed; her mere blush had his mind turn in all kinds of inappropriate directions. "It's definitely my favorite vice. And you are definitely my greatest weakness. Resisting you is like slowly desiccating. My willpower is getting weaker and weaker. Sex when I'm upset is just a release. I'm not using you like that."

Addie scoffed indignantly, "You sound as if I don't have a say in the matter."

"Obviously I wouldn't fo-"

Shaking her head, she cut him off, "No, no, no. You just assume that because you're you, I'd sleep with you. Damon, I don't think you see that in this situation _you're_ the vulnerable one and I would be taking advantage of you if we slept together while you're going through whatever issues you're going through." Addie tugged at her hands he still had pinned down with one hand and sighed, "Can I have my hands back?"

He frowned as he looked at her contemplatively. "Not just yet," he decided. "I'm still waiting to see how this plays out. So, now that I'm ready to sleep with you, you don't want to sleep with me?"

"I'm not going to sleep with you _tonight_ or for however long you're going to be moody," Addie clarified as she blushed. She knew his lascivious, lecherous looks were just to make her squirm.

"And when I do feel less cranky?" Damon asked uncertainly.

She tried to sink into the couch, her face as crimson as her hair. The intensity of his stare made her squirm; it was only then she realized just how much of his weight Damon was resting against her hips. She doubted it was possible for her to turn any redder. Again she asked, "Can I have my hands back?"

"You're deflecting."

"Like you don't?" Addie teased, echoing his words from earlier.

He chuckled and pressed a light kiss to her temple, "There's no pressure, love."

"I know. So, my hands?"

Damon inhaled sharply through his teeth and exaggerated a wince. He tsked and teased, "If I let go of your hands, they're gonna go to my hair. Once your hands are in my hair it's only a matter of time before my shirt comes off. And I've already got one of your shirts off. I mean, simple logic says clothes are just gonna keep coming off."

"Should I call you out?" Addie questioned smartly, wishing she could raise a single eyebrow challengingly like he could.

She swore he did the eyebrow thing just to make her jealous as he insisted, "Love, I'm being open and honest. There's nothin' to call out."

"So, you _didn't_ want me to come and sit by you when you moved from your one-person chair to the couch and your little temper tantrum _didn't_ calm down as we cuddle up on the couch?"

Addie had already had enough victories over him; he wasn't going to flat out tell her she was right when she already knew it. "Your point?"

"We've both agreed that sex isn't happening but you can't deny that you wanted some physical comfort," she said knowingly.

He sighed heavily, "I'm sorry I tried to take off your shirt."

"Well, technically you did take one off; you were working on the second. I'm not - my point isn't to make you feel guilty. I - really, this'd be a lot easier if you'd let me have my hands," she huffed, getting flustered. "I'm pretty sure we can defy logic and manage to not strip each other like horny teenagers."

"I don't know," he replied doubtfully. "I mean, you _are_ a horny teenager."

"I am not!"

He used a single finger to turn her head, exposing her neck to him. Addie's breath caught as he ghosted a light trail of kisses, sending a shiver down her spine. His teeth gently tugged at her earlobe before he murmured, "I can change that."

"I would _really_ like my hands back," she requested politely.

"No, I don't think so," he taunted, his lips skimming along her jaw as he used a single finger to turn her head towards him. Addie glared at him. Damon didn't want to force her into anything but with only the dying flames from the fire flickering in her eyes, he couldn't tell how serious she was. He had to give her a chance to back out. "I'm going to kiss you."

Her eyebrows raised as if she was silently challenging him, saying, "Oh, really?" It wasn't a no, though, and she wasn't moving away. In fact, Damon was surprised at how eagerly she responded to his kiss. The intensity and passion was instantaneous; there wasn't a slow burn like before. They both knew exactly what they wanted: control. It was a clash of teeth, lips, and tongue as they battle for dominance. Damon pushed his weight onto his elbow to hover over Addie, allowing him to deepen the kiss. It was too easy for him to take control when his hand was running along her body. Her wrist twisted in his grasp in an attempt to break free. She was desperate to touch him but he was stronger. Growing frustrated that he had so much power over her, she choose to exploit the only weakness she could manage in her current state. A long, low groan issued from him as she bit as hard as she dared at his lower lip and tugged at it. His hand had stopped at her waist and his fingers pressed into her skin in reaction. Her bite lessened into little nibbles as his touch became uncomfortable.

Pulling away, Damon reprimanded, "That's not playing fair."

She twisted her wrist he still had pinned above her head with one hand and scoffed, "You really want to talk about not playing fair?"

He smirked as he pressed a soft kiss to where her neck and shoulder met. "I've never claimed to play fair; but, I do expect better of you."

She inhaled sharply as his lips traveled a little further up. "Oh, this really isn't fair," Addie mumbled as he continued with the light, teasing kisses along her throat. Subconsciously she tilted her head, baring more of herself to him. "And, let's be honest. I'm dating _you_ ; my morals are obviously questionable. The chances of me playing fair is less than me doing whatever it takes to win."

Damon hummed in agreement, the vibration of his lips making her shiver. "I do love your questionable morals. For the most part they favor me. Though, I do love to win, too."

And he bit her neck in that way that elicited the moan that made his pants quite uncomfortable. Addie strained against Damon's hold on her as her back arched and toes curl. She wanted to run her fingers through his hair, rake her nails down his - Oh. Her train of thought was derailed as he switched from biting to suckling. Addie writhed beneath him, desperate for contact. His lips were cool against her skin, which was quickly warming with arousal. He never broke contact as he bit, sucked, and nipped his way along her throat. She whimpered softly as his scruff tickled at the sensitive skin; it was a sensation overload.

"Aww," Damon murmured in false sympathy, his lips brushing against her jaw. "Is something wrong?" Addie tugged at her hands again futilely. He placed a teasing kiss to her lips, pulling away as she tried for more. "I'm a reasonable man." She scoffed at that but he continued on. "I'll tell you what, I'll trade you your hands for your shirt."

"Damon -"

Hearing the doubt in her voice he cut her off before she could continue, "I really don't give a damn about what you're wearing."

"You obviously care that I'm wearing a shirt," she retorted smartly, the corners of her lips twitching as she fought a smile.

"I don't care what you wear under the shirt," he corrected himself dramatically.

Addie bit her lip as she thought. He was being pushy, which was very unlike him. It was probably whatever he had been so upset about earlier that had him acting so strange. Damon was still seeking out sex as a release, albeit in a very limited from compared to what he was used to. It was likely he didn't even realize he was doing it. She didn't mind being there for him if that was what he needed. With a weak smile she lightly chastised, "You know, you could have made it a little more romantic… or hotter. Now it's just anticlimactic and awkward."

"Well, your arms are already above your head, a key step in removing a shirt - "

"You removed my other one without me having to lift my arms," she interjected with a smirk.

The fire had started to die and Damon was having an even harder time reading her expressions. He gently he held her chin between his thumb and forefinger and looked into her eyes. "Are you being difficult because you're you or because you want to tell me no and yet you don't want to tell me no?"

"That sounds about as rational as something I would say."

One side of his mouth lifted in a crooked grin as he teased, "I know. That's how I know it made perfect sense to you."

"I don't have a problem telling you no. And I'm not saying no. I'm just…," she trailed off unable to find the right word.

"Insecure," Damon supplied. "I don't - I don't understand why. You are so beautiful, inside and out. You have to know what kind of effect you have on me." He pressed his hips into her lower stomach to emphasis his point. His grip on her wrist briefly tightened as he remarked, "And you _really_ aren't even touching me."

He gave her a genuine smile and released her wrist. Immediately, Addie reached out for him but he had already pushed himself off the couch and was moving towards the fire. Ouch. A lead weight settled uncomfortably in Addie's stomach. How did something that seemed like a compliment feel like a slap in the face?

"Damon," Addie sighed, uncertain of what to say.

"Yeah?" he answered as he threw another log onto the fire.

"I wasn't really asking a question. I was just… I don't know," she said feebly, watching as he stoked the fire back to life.

He ran a hand through his hair as he replaced the fire poker. Weary, he said, "It's getting late. Are you spending the night?"

What kind of question was that? That was what they always did. Did he expect her to go home? _Alone?_ When did he get so lax about her security?

Addie hesitated, "Not if you don't want me to."

"It's either here or your house and we're already here so I don't really see the point in moving. We might as well stay here."

We. Both of them. She nodded, "Makes sense."

"Good. You wanna… is it cool if we stay down here a little longer?" he asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

Her lips pursed and eyes narrowed as she studied him, shadows dancing across his angular features. "You're being weird."

"You're weird," he retorted childishly as he poured a tumbler of bourbon.

"Never said I wasn't. That still doesn't explain your behavior."

"Honestly, Ads, it has just been a long, shitty day and all I really want to do is hold my girlfriend knowing she's safe and sound, watch this fire, and not have to listen to the sounds of the fucking ocean because my brother might overhear us," Damon admitted bluntly before swallowing the drink in one swig.

She laughed slightly as she picked up the blanket from where it had fallen to the floor, "It's not like we use the sound machine _every_ night. We don't use it at my house. Admittedly your house is nicer and your bed more comfortable."

"Mmm," he acknowledge as he stared pensively at flames licking at the log he'd added to the fireplace. "I'm not ready for bed just yet. I'll come up and join you in a little bit if you're ready."

"That's ok. I want to do whatever you want. If you want to talk about what happened today, I'm here for you. If you want me to just be quiet, I can do that to," Addie offered, noticing the stiff way he seemed to be standing.

"Not now. I don't want to talk about today just yet. What I want is much less complex."

Damon made a motion for her to stand up. When she did, he stretched out along the couch and motioned for her to lay next to him. She did, again spreading the blanket out over them. He tucked his arm under the couch pillow before Addie rested her head on it, facing away from him. His fingers were cool as he brushed the hair off her neck. He skimmed down the length of her of her arm with the lightest of touches, ending at her hand where he interlaced their fingers and rested them against her stomach. Addie cursed him silently as goosebumps rose on her arm; he knew exactly how to make her want more.

He pressed a soft, loving kiss just behind her ear and murmured, " _This_ is what I want."

That wasn't true. Addie knew Damon too well to know that wasn't the whole truth. He might have wanted to lie down together but there was something he was omitting. She called him out on, "It's not what you really want."

Damon inhaled deeply, the familiar, comforting smell of her cucumber melon shampoo tickling his nose. He hated that he was so transparent and obvious to her and yet he loved it. It was a very complicated feeling. Moments when she could read him when he wanted to hide something were quite excruciating.

"It's close enough,' he replied, hoping that would be the end of the discussion.

"No, it's not. I want to be here for you, Damon. Every single night you give me exactly what I want; I want you because you keep away the nightmare, you comfort me. This one night let me give you what you need. You don't always have to play the dark knight," she tried to reason, looking at him over her shoulder. It bothered her that one of the few times she actually wanted to make eye contact with him, he wouldn't.

His lips twitched into a forced smirked as he taunted, "So, you only want me there for the nightmares, huh?"

Addie rolled her eyes in exasperation as she sighed, turning away from him, "You're deflecting again."

"And now you're mad at me."

"No, Damon, I'm frustrated. I'm frustrated that you won't let me help. You don't want to talk about whatever has you so screwed up tonight and I get that, I do. Trust me, I'm the last person who gets to judge you for not wanting to talk about or deal with difficult shift or stuff you simply don't like. So, while I want to know what's bothering you, I accept that you don't want to talk about it. However, I'm really bothered that when there is finally something I can give you, you refuse to take it," she lamented.

Damon's eyebrows furrowed as he tried to understand. "Addie, you're speaking your own language again. You give me _you_ everyday that I get to be with you."

"Oh, please," she mumbled under her breath. "That's not what I mean. You give me everything I are always making sacrifices and compromises either to make us wake or, more often than not, simply just to please me. You put me before anyone else, even Stefan." Addie faltered for a moment, the unspoken words a roaring silence to both of them. It wasn't that way for her; Elena and Jeremy still came first at the end of the day.

"You've become my protector, my confidant, my shoulder to cry on, my boyfriend, and so much more. That is _a lot_ of weight to bear. You do so much for me. It's frustrating that I can't do this one thing for you."

He had felt Addie tense up next to him. It was ridiculous that she was hung up on this one little thing. He'd tried to talk some sense into her and make her see just how much she did for him but she had an issue with tunnel vision; once she was convinced of something, it was nearly impossible to make her see otherwise.

Damon ran his hand up and down her arm soothingly as he attempted to reason with her, "You don't even know what I really want."

"So?"

"It could be something you're not comfortable with," he replied off-handed.

Addie's lips pursed and she blinked once, twice. Then she understood, "It _is_ something you don't think I'll be comfortable with." His lack of an answer told her she was right. "Don't you think I should get to determine what _I_ am or am not comfortable with and not _you_?"

"No, actually. I don't believe it's fair of me to put that kind of pressure on you."

"Hmm, interesting. So all those times you pushed me into a relationship before I was ready or…." She really thought she'd had a better argument than that. She had a really strong argument for decisions he made for her or took away from her but he really hadn't been that pushy.

"I was wrong to do that. I just wanted to make you happy and I thought being with you was the answer to that," he apologized. "Ads, I do my best not to pressure you and I know I'm probably not very good at it. I've spent the last 146 years never having to try or work or do anything but simply say what I wanted and it was done. And I can't do that with you. Not because I literally can't compel you but because I love who you are and I don't want you to change. I don't want you to change into to someone that you're not."

Addie twisted slightly to given him a sweet, gentle kiss, even if it was a little awkwardly angled. "You are actually excellent about not pressuring me, for the most part. It's one of the many things I love about you and our relationship. And while I appreciate your consideration in this, I would like to be able to make my own decision."

His hand rested on her hip, his thumb brushing along the skin just above the waistband of her jeans as he considered this. She hadn't been completely opposed to the idea, just a bit self-conscious.

"I wanted skin to skin contact but it's a bad idea. You'll be too cold," he said quick and uncomfortable.

"I'm actually quite warm. Blankets and fires tend to do that," she teased, picking up the blanket thrown over them as evidence. Was that seriously all it was? Was that why he had been pushing all night?

Damon noted how she danced around the direct issue. He was surprised when she turned onto her back and quickly peeled off her tank. Addie enjoyed the dumbstruck, gobsmacked look on his face. The black was still pulled over her chest; it wasn't that shocking.

She smirked, enjoying having rendered him speechless and teased, "I believe it's your turn."

Right. He had a goal. Stunned into monotony, he pointed out, "Your head is on my arm."

Addie lifted her head. When Damon didn't move right away she giggled nervously, "Now it's getting awkward and you haven't even seen anything."

He sat up slightly to take off his shirt, unintentionally shifting the blanket. He slung the garment across the back of the back of the couch, he couldn't contain his laughter. It was the greatest moment over several long, miserable days. Addie bit at her lip, too mortified to move. Damon ran a hand over his face, collecting himself. He couldn't help his grin, though. Or the gut wrenching guilt he felt at obviously making her uncomfortable. He had to make her understand.

He gently grasped her chin, pulling slightly to make her stop biting at her lower lip so he could he could run his thumb along it. He leaned down and kissed her tenderly. "You never cease to astound me. You are beautiful beyond words," he whispered sincerely against her lips and kissed her once more. His lips twitched despite his attempt at being serious as he looked into her eyes. "I _really_ can't help but ask." He hooked a finger under her bra strap and gently tugged as he inquired, "Did you buy this too match my lucky boxers or is it just a happy coincidence that you had a black bra with yellow smiley faces, just like my lucky boxers?"

"What do you think?" she muttered shyly.

"Well, if you already had it, it might explain why you're so fond of those particular boxers. If you bought it after, it means you're particularly fond of me and want to match me," he teased.

Addie held her hands up defensively. "All I'm saying is I'm obviously fond of you. I love you despite the fact that you laughed at me."

"I'm sorry i laughed. I only did because you just… you look perfectly perfect. I more than adore you in my boxers." The flames of the fire allowed him to still see the doubt in her eyes. Screw it. He'd rather have her be upset by his actual feelings as opposed to some whatever wrapped ideas her mind concocted. "Honestly, I feel pretty damn possessive when you're in my clothes. To think of you actually matching me in underwear… it's just… I don't know. It's a guy thing."

"Oh," she replied.

"Alright, come on," he ordered, rotating his finger in an indication for Addie to turn over. A crease formed between her eyebrows in confusion. "I told you all i wanted to do is hold my girlfriend knowing she's safe and sound and watch the fire."

"That's really all you want?" she asked skeptically.

He brushed a lock of hair behind her ear, his fingers trailing along her cheek and sighed, "Trust me, any other night I would be all over you. Tonight, I just…."

Addie nodded understandingly as she turned onto her side and rested her head on the pillow Damon tucked his arm back under. "It's been a _really_ bad day."

Again he brushed the hair off her neck and pressed a soft kiss behind her ear. His hand settled just below her navel and he pulled her flush to him. He groaned softly at the heat of her satin skin covered his torso. He wrapped his arm around her a little tighter as he felt every nerve feel alive and electrified. Addie licked her lips; she didn't need Damon encouraging her against him. Her hands had traced the sculpted muscles of his chest and abs individually but there was something so much hotter about feeling them all at once. She anxiously waited for Damon to make a move as she felt him adjust her hair. Her hopes fell when she just felt his head rest against hers. Addie intertwined their legs, just like every night, in an attempt to get a reaction. When that didn't work, she pressed her hips back into him.

"Addison," he reprimanded warningly.

She made an impatient, unhappy whining sound. "I know you feel the attraction. I mean, I can literally feel that you feel it,"she pouted, his arousal pressing into her.

Damon exhaled loudly, making her shiver as his breath cooled her neck. "Addie, you make me question my whole identity."

"Yes, I know. Damon Salvatore is turning down the sexual advances. You do wonders for my ego. Though, considering the size of yours, I don't think this relationship has room for both of our," she muttered, semi-bitterly.

"Love, my ego is trying to respect your ego so you'll respect your ego come morning," he muttered. His fingers stroked against the soft skin of her stomach in delicate patterns. It wasn't like saying no to her was easy. Hell, he was a man dying of thirst being offered a drink and saying no. They were not in a place in their relationship to take things further. With his mood, though, he wasn't certain he would want to stop. He was so angry and upset.

"I think you mean my self-esteem."

"Tomato, tomahto. I am clearly attracted to you and yes, I have that same slow burning feeling in the pit of my stomach as I hold you right now but I don't trust myself with you. Not tonight. I'm not in total control tonight," Damon confessed.

"You'd stop if I told you to," Addie said certainly.

He shook his head against hers; her faith in him was astounding. "I'm not convinced you'd tell me to stop even though we've already discussed that we're not ready for sex."

She had to admit that was quite possible. Damon made the word no leave her vocabulary at times.

"Can we sleep down here?"

"On the couch and _not_ in my luxurious bed?"

Simply she answered, "I'm comfortable."

"Well, I was kind of picturing you in my lucky boxers and my new favorite bra. But I have to admit, I am rather comfortable, too. I suppose we can stay down here. Though, you know you have to get up anyways," he reminded her.

"No, I don't."

"Your medication?" Addie was a big girl and he liked to leave her mental health up to her. "At least your sleeping pill?"

Her lips set into a slight pout. She didn't like that he was right. Technically she should take her medicine. "I'll take it in the morning. I think I'm tired enough to sleep without the sleeping pill."

"Alright. Well, get some rest. You still have a math test tomorrow."

Addie groaned pitifully, "You're just going to completely ignore the fact that we are both turned on right now?"

One one of his mouth lifted slightly in pride. Addie wasn't typically comfortable talking about how she felt, particularly in a sexual manner; he considered it progress in her own development and their relationship when she did.

"Yep," he said, popping the _puh_ sound. His large hand splayed across her stomach, pulling her snug against him, his arousal pressing into her. "Once you go to sleep you can have all the sexy, dirty dreams you want about me."

* * *

The fire had burned down to bright red embers when Addie woke. She wasn't sure exactly how long she had been asleep. Just like every night she had gotten hot and the blankets had fallen around her waist. Somehow she had moved away from Damon but she slowly moved back towards him, careful not to wake him. His chest rose and fell against her back in a steady rhythm, his breathing soft and deep. His hand had tucked itself under her waist and he pulled her closer and tighter with the movement. Addie wasn't too concerned he had woken up. He always made little movements to hold her closer in his sleep.

Addie gently took hold of his hand from the arm both of them had been resting on. He'd spend nights never moving, one or both of them sleeping on his arm or his leg in some awkward position. She had no idea how he did it; she tossed and turned all night long because her limbs would fall asleep. The only time she stayed still was if he held her. It was likely the only reason she hadn't rolled off the couch and onto the floor. She loved sleeping with him; it felt so normal and natural.

A yawn built inside her but she stifled it, trying to stay quiet. Naturally, she tried to go back to sleep as there were no signs to indicate it was anywhere near close to morning. Her mind was wide awake, despite her body's fatigue. She should have listened to Damon and taken her medicine. Perhaps she would have slept through the night. She tried a deep breathing exercise and tried to forces herself to relax.

Inhale. One, two, three.

 _Damon honestly hadn't made a move on her after trying to get her shirt off all night. Would he have if she had removed it earlier in the night? Or was he simply trying for_ this _, just to hold her, all night? Why couldn't he have just asked?_

Exhale. One, two, three.

 _What was the formula for arc lengths?_

Inhale. One, two, three.

 _Why hadn't they heard back from Stefan and Elena about picking up Jeremy? They caught a flight down there in the morning and were supposed to be headed back on a flight tomorrow._

 _Maybe Damon had heard from Stefan and he probably just forgot to tell her because of his bad day. It wasn't like she and Elena were going to be chit-chatting._

Exhale. One, two, three.

 _Why was Damon so bothered and upset? He'd been distant the past couple of days. He didn't want her to be around him tonight initially; though, she truly believed that was because he didn't want her around as reminder of his vice of sex and a constant temptation. That just concerned her even more. She's never seen him that upset._

Inhale. One, two, three.

 _She really wished he would talk to her. His behavior was so off. She didn't like him like this. She wanted to get_ her Damon _back._

Exhale. One, two, three, four, five….

"Can't sleep?" Damon asked softly.

Somehow Addie wasn't startled to find that he was awake. "No," she confirmed.

"Is it the couch? Are you uncomfortable? Cold? Should I move?" he inquired in concern, pulling the blanket up and around her shoulder before she could even respond.

Sometimes she wanted to remind him that she could take care of herself but it was heartwarming to know he cared so much. "I'm fine, Damon. I'm just… it's my usual sleep issues."

He hummed understandingly. "It too late for you to take a sleeping pill without it messing with you tomorrow at school."

"I know," she sighed heavily. It was going to be a long night.

Damon was quiet for a long time but she knew he was still awake as she felt him toy with her hair. It was soothing, relaxing but not enough to make her to go to sleep.

His voice was low as he wondered, "If I tell you something, do you promise not to get made?"

Addie bit at her lip as she considered this. "It must be really bad if you need me to make a promise."

"It's… it's not great," Damon admitted. He needed reassurance. "Addie, I need you to list all the reasons you would break up with me."

"You know those rules."

He couldn't risk losing her over this. He couldn't. "I need to hear you say them Ads."

She let go of his hand to pinch the bridge of her nose. He'd done something awful if he needed reassurance that he wasn't going to break up with her. Growing anxious she listed off, "I break up with you if you cheat on me, verbally or physically abuse me, drug me, which I thought was pretty obvious but apparently I have to be very clearly on what is and is not acceptable behavior and since I need to do that, I feel the need to add if you kill my brother, even temporarily, my sister, Bonnie, and Caroline. And since you did turn Bonnie's mother into a vampire, I should probably include that I will break up with you if you turn any of them into vampires."

He licked his lips uncomfortably. "That list has definitely grown since the last time we discussed this."

"I've added a stipulation of not turning or killing the people I love. I mean, you _have_ killed my brother. Bonnie _would_ be dead if Stefan hadn't been there to save her from your attack. And your solution to the moonstone ritual was to turn my sister into a vampire. And you've slept with Caroline, which isn't exactly relevant but I don't like it," Addie pointed out matter-of-factly. "I feel like verbalizing what should be an obvious deal breaker will prevent any future problems."

"Can't argue with your facts," Damon said slowly. Uncomfortably he asked, "Anyone else on that deal breaker list?"

"No. So, what did you do?"

Damon reached into his pocked and pulled out the heavy ring, a black sapphire with an old, powerful witch symbol with ornate scrolling along the wide band.

 _Ric had finally slipped up and used his credit card at a hotel in Richmond. He didn't even need to compel the front desk clerk. A little bit of charm, some harmless flirting and a little about locking himself out and he had the room number and an access card. Ric had seemed startled and yet a bit relieved when he burst into the room._

He placed the ring in her hand, closing her hand around it. "It's a family heirloom. I think you should keep it. And one day, when you're living your normal, apple pie life, you can give it to your child or husband or whoever and have a little peace of mind knowing they're safe if the supernatural suddenly pops back up."

Addie held the ring up close to her face, squinting to the dark light to make sure it was exactly what she thought it was. Her voice quivered as she asked, "How did you… where… Damon?"

" _You've got a lot to answer for," Damon snarled, a tight grip on the other man's throat as he pinned him to the wall._

 _Alaric clawed uselessly at the vampire's hand as he struggled to breath. He wheezed, "I don't... know… argh! what you're talking about."_

 _He tightened his grip and slid him up the wall. Through gritted teeth, Damon growled, "Think back to Sunday."_

" _I don't... 'member anything after… after you left... with the stakes," Alaric choked. He was becoming light headed. Damon's squeezed tighter, his icy blue eyes hard with rage. "It's all blank… 'til I woke… few hours ago."_

" _You went after my girlfriend," Damon seethed, feeling Ric's trachea crush beneath his hand. His face was turning a purplish red. Soon his airway would be completely shut off. "You hurt Addison. You shattered her elbow and sliced open her shoulder."_

"He hurt you," Damon growled, he could feel the vibrations in his chest against her back.

Addie balked at that, glad she wasn't facing him. "He wasn-"

"I told you I didn't care which personality did it. The herbs weren't working and science couldn't do shit. He was going around unchecked. He was going to hurt you again!" he exclaimed.

She screwed her eyes shut and tried to think using his logic. "So, the solution was to kill your best friend?"

 _Alaric limp body crumpled to the floor. Damon gave a_ humph _of disappointment. After days of searching and the build up of rage that was very anticlimactic. He really hadn't meant to kill him that fast. He was also hoping to find him in his psychotic killer stage. That was the bastard he wanted to beat the shit out of. That was who he really wanted to kill. His best friend was collateral damage._

 _Damon noticed the Gilbert ring he wore and arched his eyebrows in consideration. He supposed he'd just keep killing him until the psycho came out to play._

"It was him or your safety. The choice is obvious," Damon replied, as if she sounded ridiculous.

The ring clattered when Addie tossed it onto the coffee table. She rubbed at her face tiredly. This was way too much to deal with in the middle of the night. Damon killed his best friend for her. He had killed people when he had acted out after they had gotten into fights, though, that wasn't entirely all on her. He needed to learn to control his emotions. This, _this_ he had actually done for her.

"Did you find out where he was keeping the stake?" she asked wearily.

"I just killed your pseudo guardian and you want to know about a stake?" he asked in disbelief.

Addie snuggle up against Damon, pulling the blanket tighter around her, making it clear she was done with the conversation and going back to sleep. Or at least she was going to attempt to. "Yeah. I'm not dealing with this right now. You've had your time to process it before you wanted to talk about it, now I need my time. I would just like to know if the stake has been located. It's the only way we can kill an original right now."

"Mmm… his psychotic side was a bit cryptic about that. He just said it was some place where no vampire would ever get it," he muttered, uncertain if her processing the situation was going to be a good thing or a bad thing.

Addie's lips pursed into a thin line as she closed her eyes. That wasn't cryptic; it was painfully obvious. If she was right. If it turned out that Klaus didn't create Damon's bloodline, and the odds weren't in her favor, Damon would try to kill Klaus and would only end up getting himself killed. She needed to move the stake before anyone else figured out the location. Everyone was so convinced the solution was killing Klaus. He just needed to be controlled. There had to be a way to do that.

* * *

 **A/N: So sorry it's been over a month for an update. I tried to get it up in time for the season premier but instead I have been up all night writing it. It's been quite difficult writing this with everything going on in life. Also, my hand hand got slammed in a steel door, breaking 8 bones with a total of 11 fractures in my right hand, which is my dominant hand. This has all been typed with my left hand, which is extremely slow.**

 **This chapter definitely got away from me but it's all extremely relevant for what's coming up in Resist Control. So, I have this planned out until the end and I'm thinking 2 or 3 more chapters (not a promise).**

 **You guys are AMAZING with so much love and support with the comments. I'm sorry I haven't gotten a chance to reply. I'll do better! Your comments truly do inspire me to put more time and effort into this. I'd really appreciate it if you'd drop on. I'd like to hears your ideas of what's going to you all so much! Also, your guys interest will really. Dictate if I carry on to Resist Control. I've spent almost two years of my life on this series, neglecting a lot of other things. I think the most original and has the best writing but I've only done one chapter. But I'm kind of reluctant about posting it because I know it offensive to some but... Addie is a normal girl wanting a normal life the supernatural.**

 **I also need a soundboard for Resis Control ideas and the last few chapters here. PM if interested.**


	26. Chapter 25

Addie's index finger and thumb delicately grabbed either side of Damon's wrist as she tried to move his arm without waking him. The deadweight feeling stayed the same as she rested his hand along his side so she felt pretty confident she was successful. Still concerned about waking him, though, it took her a full minute to get off the couch as she moved slowly, not wanting the change in weight distribution to disturb him. It was barely dawn but she wanted to get a headstart on her day and she still had to get home and shower before school. Because she wanted to wear her red Converse. And her red Converse were not at the boardinghouse. And there was no particular reason she woke up wanting to wear those shoes simply because they were at her house and not the boardinghouse.

"You know, it feels like you're sneaking out on me the morning after," Damon muttered sleepily, his eyes still closed. He imagined he'd woken up only moments after Addie. His unconscious mind had registered how she'd gone extremely tense, her breathing had become fast and shallow, and her heart was pounding as if she'd just run a race. It seemed as if any moment she'd break into a panic attack but he was proud when she managed her anxiety. She'd been slowly moving away from him an hour. It was highly likely that he was correlated with her troubles, making him feel guilty.

Addie's mouth went dry and she licked her lips nervously. Trying to sound neutral and normal as she stuffed her study tools and math book into her backpack she remarked, "Well, you don't get to feel that way because _A)_ we're talking so this doesn't constitute as a sneak out and _B)_ it's not the 'morning after' because nothing happened."

"Mmm," he hummed contemplatively, rolling onto his stomach and burying his face into the pillow, "I don't think you get to tell me how to feel."

"Yeah, ok,"she quipped back sarcastically, "but it's fair for you to make me promise not to get made over you killing Alaric."

"Technically, you never promised," pointed out Damon, "which is how I know it's way too fucking early for this argument."

Slinging her backpack over one shoulder, like always, she hissed, "And _that's_ why I'm sneaking out." Plus she still hadn't decided how she was going to handle the situation. Avoidance and denial were just so much easier to face.

* * *

Rebekah was no longer on Addie's friend list since she decided to carve up Damon. Bonnie wasn't particularly happy with Addie since Damon had turned her mother into a vampire and, yet, Addie was still with him. The only person in the state still on speaking terms with her was Caroline but she only wanted to rant about how the theme of the dance tomorrow had been changed from the 70s to the 20s by Rebekah. However, Caroline would never dare to enter the library during lunch, the most social period of the day, making Addie felt pretty safe hiding out there.

She mindlessly flipped through her index cards, trying to cram in a few extra minutes of studying before her calculus exam but she was too distracted; none of the ink on the cards made sense to her. The ring in her pocket felt like a ten pound stone but something about leaving it at the house just hadn't felt safe. The Gilbert rings had saved Alaric and Jeremy and countless other relatives an unfathomable number of times, she was sure. She still hadn't decided if it was a blessing or a curse, though. It _had_ caused at least two people to be maniacal serial killers. Well, Alaric was only technically an attempted serially killer as he had only successfully killed Brian Walters, the medical examiner and Bill Forbes only half counted since he chose not to transition into a vampire.

The index cards smacked against the table as she threw them down in frustration, her hands running through her hair. First their parents (courtesy of Elena), then Vicky (thanks to Damon), then Anna (collateral damage in John saving the town), then Isobel (probably the only good thing Klaus ever did), then Jenna (if Elena hadn't been a damn doppleganger…), then John (again, her sister), and now Alaric (because her boyfriend was a certifiable nutcase). Addie tilted her head thoughtfully as she traced a pattern in the grain of the cherry wood desk. Considering all the bullshit she and her siblings had gone through, they weren't turning out _that_ bad. Of course, she was dating a guy who didn't seem to have an issue killing his best friend. Elena was hung up on an emotionally unavailable guy so she'd gone after her sister's boyfriend. And her brother talked to ghost, ghost of his twice dead vampire girlfriends. Yeah. They were screwed.

Addie still hadn't figured out how she was going to tell her siblings Alaric was dead... And that Damon was the one who killed him.

Alaric's second personality either hadn't been a guinness or didn't care if Damon knew were the last White Oak stake was. Just as she had anticipated, Addie had found it in the part of the Lockwood tunnels "where no vampire would ever get it." It was where the cave paintings of the first family was. The painting of the second tree had been right next to the stake; it didn't exactly require a rocket scientist to put two and two together. After she safely stored the stake under her mattress, she found the courage to ask Damon about Alaric's body. He'd compelled the mortician at Mystic Falls hospital to take care of the body until he decided he what he wanted to do with it. At least they could give him a proper burial. That was more respect than Damon had for the vast majority of human life.

"You are so predictable," chuckled a warm, familiar voice from over shoulder. "I knew I'd find you here."

Before he had finished speaking Addie's arms were wrapped so tight around her brother, his own were pinned to his sides. She held Jeremy at arm's length and looked at him, shaking her head in disbelief. "I can't believe you're back! I've missed this ugly mug," she teased, patting his cheek lightly.

Jeremy beamed as he gave his little sister a bearhug. "Missed you too, Ad."

"Trust me, I'm ecstatic you're back," Addie insisted, forcing him into the hard, wood seat next to the one she was using, "but jumping back into school straight off the plane? That's a little…"

"You?" he smirked knowingly.

She opened her mouth for a smart retort but closed it again. There was no point in denying that she liked school.

"Don't worry," he reassured her, "you still hold the title of Uber Geek in the family. But of course the first thing I had to do when I get back into town is re-enroll me in school."

"Elena," they said simultaneously in exasperation. It was really annoying that she had tried to take on the mom role.

He nodded, a disgusted look on his face. "Can you believe her? She turns up to get me and it turns out Klaus' psycho little brother has been pretending to be my friend. Then Kol starts trying to kill us, making us go on the run. And _she's_ worried about making out with Stefan in some sleazy motel."

Addie's eyebrows furrowed in clear confusion. "Why were you guys at a motel?"

"Of all that, the _motel_ is the concerning part for you? You're just gonna ignore the crazy, murderous vampires, one of which was sticking his tongue down your sister's throat?" Jeremy said in slow slapped himself in the head and exclaim, "Stupid me! Of course that's the weird part for you. It's not like you aren't dating the craziest vampire of them all."

"I need someone who can match my crazy," she shrugged simply. Addie jabbed an accusatory finger in the center of his chest and scolded, "And you don't get to judge. I was the last idiot to fall for a crazy, murderous vampire. Do I need to remind you of Anna and Vickie?"

"Damon is far more psychotic than either of them,"Jeremy retorted defensively.

"I'm not claiming Damon has any semblance of sanity. His mind is… well, I haven't quite figured out the method to his madness, yet. But I really don't always understand the method to my own madness so that's not really saying a whole lot," Addie mused, her fingers tapping rhythmically on the desk as she thought. There had to be something wrong with Damon for him to murder Alaric. People didn't just go around killing people they care about.

As Jeremy watched his little sister's deep blue eyes glaze as she stared at something past his shoulder. Her attention span really was very limited. "Hey," he said, snapping his fingers just in front of her nose to break her trance. "You wanna tell me what the hell is going on here? Elena was all shady about it when she wasn't fawning over Stefan."

No, no, she did not want to tell him what was going on. He already didn't like Damon. Nobody really _liked_ Damon. Now everyone was going to hate Damon. Evasively Addie answered, "Um, Elena made a pass at Damon but apparently she now over him because whatever is going on between her and Stefan is new." Technically, it was true; it wasn't important compared to other things but it still happened.

"Yeah, I really don't care about your guys love lives. I'm talking more about Klaus' crazy brother and Elena mentioned Alaric being sick and the blackouts and this whole wiping out an entire vampire bloodline shit."

"Oh. You mean all the supernatural shit that made _Elena_ send you to Denver to keep you safe?" she asked innocently, emphasizing the fact that it had not been her idea.

"Yeah."

"Uh, well, I don't have time to explain all of it before my math test. Quick version: kill an original and everyone they've turned dies. We want to try and use your connection to the Other Side to figure out who started Damon and Stefan's line so we can kill the other three Original siblings. But wait, it gets better, we no longer have a way of killing any of them because we did have some stakes that could kill them but I traded them to Klaus for Damon and the one Stefan had burned up when he staked Flynn. Alaric has one but his rational side doesn't know where it is and his other personality is not exactly playing well with others these days and won't tell us where he hid the stake. I'm guessing by your face Elena mention his multiple personality disorder. She probably failed to mention that because of the Gilbert ring he now has two and the new one enjoys murdering anyone who associates with vampires," she rushed out, concluding in a mockingly cheery voice and sarcastic smile.

Jeremy leaned in slightly as he scrutinized her face for any signs of deception. It was sometimes difficult to tell whether his sister was being serious or joking. The macabre was amusing to Addie but she had mentioned Elena, someone she didn't associate with humor.

Jeremy repeated to make sure he heard correctly, "Alaric's killing people?"

Addie sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. Talking about Alaric was going to end up biting her in the ass. "Yeah. That ring that let's you cheat death also makes you go crazy. I'd probably stop wearing it if I were you."

"Sure, when my sisters stop associating with vampires who keep trying to kill me, I will."

"It's not like we _enjoy_ associating with Klaus," she mumbled bitterly.

"Alaric wouldn't kill anyone, though," he insisted.

"No," Addie drawled out slowly, "but his alter ego does. And he doesn't seem to have much control over that. The guy practically stabbed himself to death. No sane person does that. I mean, unless you're committing harikiri and it's honorable suicide but I don't think his alter ego is a Japanese samurai."

If Addie was serious, she wasn't very convincing. For such an important topic Jeremy expected her to do a better job of staying on topic. Plus, Alaric trying to kill himself was quite a reach. To see if he could trip her up in her trick he challenged, "You guys are just letting him run around killing people?"

Her heart was pounding to the rhythm of an awful techno song. She pursed her lips as she pretended to give the question a brief consideration, "Not really _people_ , per se, more like a person and a half."

"A half?"

"Bill Forbes died with vampire blood in his system so he could have gone on as a vampire but he chose to die."

"Caroline's dad?" He mockingly nodded acceptance. "Ok. Alright. How are you guys protecting people from him? Or protecting him from himself?"

Bile burned the back of her throat as if she was going to be violently ill. Lying to Jeremy didn't feel right but she couldn't just sell out Damon. She couldn't betray Damon because she was a slave of the horrific concept of love; it scared her to even think of how badly he would have to screw up for her not to forgive him. Unfortunately, everyone else wasn't blindly, stupidly in love with Damon and had the ability to hate and condemn him and hold him accountable for his awful actions. Though, perhaps that wasn't a bad thing overall. In the case of killing Alaric, friend, history teacher, pseudo guardian, it was a bad thing, though. A very, very, very bad thing. Possibly. Addie wasn't certain she was qualified to decide whether or not Damon's actions were forgivable as she had no choice. That didn't mean she had to be ok with it. If she was having issues wrapping her mind around his behavior and accepting it, despite the fact that Alaric tried to kill her twice and she unconditionally loved Damon, nobody else was going to understand it.

"Bonnie made this combination of herbs that is supposed to suppress his manic side. Damon was watching him constantly but he was doing well so we figured he didn't need a babysitter. Then Alaric decided it would be a good idea for him to go off into the mountains on a spirit quest and _find himself_ ," she said dramatically, placing air quotes around the last two words as she rolled her eyes. "He was feeling guilty and just needed some space."

In her mind Addie cringed. That wasn't what she had meant to say. Telling people that Alaric had taken off wasn't exactly an explanation for him being dead. Addie didn't have an explanation for him being dead besides the truth, which she obviously couldn't tell anyone, but she needed some explanation for why Alaric was suddenly not around and unreachable.

It was apparent that Addie wasn't going to give up on her little story. Conceding defeat Jeremy redirected the conversation, "What is it that you guys want me to try and do?"

"Huh?" And he accused her of getting off topic?

"You said something about my connection to the Other Side."

Her forehead landed on the desk with a loud _thump_. "Ow," she muttered. Of course it was more supernatural shit. When did her life become so complicated? "It's a push/pull thing, right?"

"Pretty much," nodded Jeremy.

"Right, well, we know Rose turned Katherine and Katherine turned Damon, Stefan, and Caroline… Actually it was Damon's blood in Caroline but Katherine killed her. _But_ if Damon dies-"

"Focus!" he exclaimed as loud as he dared in the library. If he allowed his sister to go off on every train of thought she had, it would be Christmas before she made her point.

"We make you think about Rose and hope she makes contact. We figure out who turned her and we keep working our way back until we figure out which Original is linked to them."

"I didn't even know her and I definitely don't know vampire's going back a thousand years," Jeremy pointed out smartly.

"That's the beautiful thing about immortality, knowing Katherine already puts us back 500 years. For all we know, an Original could have turned Rose."

"Or there could be 500 people between an Original and Rose," he countered. "And I still doubt I can make contact without knowing her. I could see Vicki and Anna because I had a connection to them when they were alive."

Addie lips twisted into a scowl as she shoved her flashcards into her backpack; the bell was about to ring. Bitterly she grumbled, "I'm sure Damon can provide you with enough information for you to feel like you did."

* * *

Cutting school was not Addie Gilbert's style, at least it hadn't been before she met Damon Salvatore. Something about him just screwed with her head. She'd only turned in her math test half completed and it wasn't because she didn't know the answers; it was because she couldn't get Damon out of her mind. She was too worried about him and felt guilty about how she had left that morning. Damon could be cold and heartless but Alaric was his true friend, someone he actually cared about.

With Elena and Stefan back, the only chance they might get to talk alone would be during the school day. She had to talk to him before they tried to make contact with Rose that evening. His cell phone was going straight to voicemail and he wasn't responding to text. Addie didn't feel guilty about using her key to get into the house when Damon ignored her knocking for fifteen minutes. She called out for him as she searched downstairs but he didn't answer. She went to the only other place she thought he might be.

"Damon?" Addie called out again, opening the door to his room.

"Bathroom." Inside she found Damon, a towel slung low around his hips and a thin layer of shaving cream covering his face and neck. She watched with mild interest as he held the skin of his cheek taut and used the straight razor to cut of several days of stubble. She admired the way he used a classic razor as opposed to a modern safety razor. It wasn't that surprising since he had grown up shaving that way. Though, Stefan had switched to safety razors because it was supposedly easier and faster. Damon had finished with the left half of his face when he met her eyes through the mirror and teased, "Enjoying the show?"

She walked around to the other side of him and sat on the counter so she could watch him do the same to the right side. Unashamed she admitted, "Very much so. Where you ignoring me?"

"Try it," he encouraged, holding the blade out to her. His avoidance of her question didn't go unnoticed.

Addie laughed sarcastically, "I don't think so. I'll cut you."

"And I'll heal right away," he shrugged, as if it didn't matter. Her hesitation was obvious but the way she bit her lip told him she was tempted. Damon placed the handle in her hand and insisted, "Come on. It's easy." And it kept her distracted.

"I have no idea what to do," she protested, trying to hand the razor back to him.

"No excuse." After adjusting her hold on the razor, Damon reached over his head with his right and drew the skin upwards with his fingertip, making a smooth shaving surface. He watched her in the mirror as he directed, "Hold the blade at a 30-degree angle. Don't press but just glide it down from the edge of my hair down to my jaw." Addie held her breath to keep her hand from shaking as she did what he said. She nervously looked to him for approval when she finished. "Perfect," he praised, running the tap for her to rinse off the blade. "Now, follow my cheekbone to halfway down my cheek. Aren't you supposed to be in school?"

"You weren't answering my calls or text. I was too distracted thinking about you to focus. Now, stop distracting me or I'm going to cut you," she muttered, focusing intently on her task.

Damon had to fight from letting any expression alter his face. He ran the water again, signalling for her to rinse the blade as he moved his fingers further down his cheek so she could finish down from mid-cheek to jaw. "Why were you thinking about me? Seemed like you wanted to do the exact opposite of that this morning and last night."

"You sprung on me that you killed your best and only friend because you felt that was the only way to keep me safe. How am I supposed to respond to that?" she asked rhetorically, returning to shaving his cheek. While she was still nervous about cutting him, she could see how the process could be meditative once you became comfortable with it.

"Ric wasn't my best friend. Ric's never been my best friend. You've always been my best friend, even when I didn't want to be friends with you. It's always you, Ads. It's always been you. It will always be you," Damon informed her, holding her gaze as she washed off the excess shaving cream again.

"He was still your friend," she whispered. Addie wasn't sure if she was trying to convince her or himself that Alaric hadn't been his best friend. "And you still took a life for me. That's… I know your intentions are well but it's just not something I'm comfortable or agree with you doing."

He tilted his head back and to the right, exposing the skin under his left jaw. Again, he drew the skin tight and indicated for her to continue. "I figured that out. Though, I pretty much already knew that when I killed him. I knew the risk of losing you. I will always pick losing your love and respect over losing your life."

She held her breath again, nervous about nicking the thin, sensitive skin. That was the issue; there needed to be some kind of boundaries on his _protection_. That was an issue for another time. There were only so many issues she could tackle with Damon in a day. Addie leaned back, inspecting his smooth, clean face. All except for one strip of shaving creaming. She handed the blade back to him and declare, "I am not going near your Adam's apple. I don't even like shaving my own knees."

Damon laughed deeply; she was perfect. He quickly finished up the last bit of shaving. He waggled his eyebrows suggestively as he turned on the water, "You're gonna get soaked if you don't move."

She gave him an exasperated look; she wasn't _that_ close to the sink. His hands cupped under the faucet and filled with water that he splashed on his face. Cold water soaked through the right thigh of her jeans, making Addie gasp in shock. Damon resisted smirking as he repeated the process, focusing more on landing water on her than cleaning off the remnants of shaving cream. Her squeals and protests were a tad dramatic.

Blindly Damon reached out for the hand towel to dry his face but Addie had already snatched it away and was blotting the right side of her shirt and pants. He knew she hated wet clothes. Seething she growled, "You _dick_."

"Did you take the towel?"

"Dicks don't deserve towels," Addie snapped back surly.

"Well, I could just use the towel that's covering my actual di-"

"Ugh!" she groaned in frustration, shoving the cloth into his hand. Dramatically stomping to the bedroom she exclaimed, "You are such a dick!"

His laughter was muffled by the towel as he dried his face. There was always something refreshing about hearing her call him out for being a jerk. Addie scowled as she yanked open his dresser drawer; she could hear him snickering. She selected a pair of navy and black plaid boxers and a soft, dark gray t-shirt. From another drawer she pulled out a pair of her own gym shorts. How was she out of clean jeans?

Quickly change into the shorts and his shirt, Addie petulantly whined, "Aren't you a little old to be acting like a 12-year-old? I hate being wet!"

"I'm a guy; our DNA programs us to occasionally act like prepubescent adolescents," he teased, coming out of the bathroom. He frowned when he saw that she had already changed. "That's not fair!"

She raised her eyebrows at him questioningly. "Excuse me?"

"I was soaking you for a wet t-shirt contest. That doesn't work if you change," he complained.

"I repeat: 12-year-old," Addie disapproved, passing the boxers to him. "Besides, I can already tell you the results. I was the only one in the wet t-shirt; I won by default." He chuckled softly as he moved into his closet. Sitting on the edge of his bed she sighed in annoyance, "I can't believe I was actually worried about you."

"You were what?" Damon asked, pretending to be perplexed.

She flopped backwards and stared up at the ceiling and repeated, "I was worried. You weren't answering your phone. You were ignoring the door. You'd think… I mean… you're not heartless."

His hands pressed into the mattress on either side of her shoulders as he suddenly appeared, hovering over her. He gave her a small smile as she looked at him wearily. Addie thought he was going to break. She expected him to be torn up about Ric. He had already spent days coming to turn with the fact that he would have to kill his close friend. And she was still right to worry; he'd only forced himself awake and into the shower when he heard her knocking. Around her he still had to act collected.

His hand cupped her cheek as the pad of his thumb swept along her lower lip. "No, I'm not but I can only afford for my heart to be in one place. Ads, if anything ever happened to _you_ , then I'd worry about how I'd react. Now?" He shrugged slightly. Damon was upset to lose his drinking buddy but it was for his Ads. He'd set the world on fire for her. "Now, it's one less threat to you."

"You can't just kill anyone you think is going to hurt me," she said disapprovingly, unable to meet his loving gaze.

He had to keep from scoffing and asking why not. It seemed like a reasonable solution to him. Of course her morals would object to that. He exhaled slowly, "Do you think my first solution was to kill Ric?"

"I said he was the one who hurt me and your automatic response was 'I'm gonna kill him,' so I'm gonna say yes," she answered matter-of-fact.

"Well, yeah, that was the only option I had left once he _actually_ hurt you. When he was only a _threat_ to you I tried other solutions. Do you think I ever believed for half a second Dr. Blood Snatcher was going to find some medical issue that explained why Ric was having blackouts and staking people? No. Was I a big fan of letting Bonnie work some hoodoo voodoo witchcraft in an attempt to control my friend? No but if it meant he wasn't going to try and attack my girlfriend I was ok with giving up Ric's freewill. Did that work? No. So we tried some herb tonic thing. Foolishly I hoped a guy with a maniacal alter ego would actually be able to self medicate. But I was being selfish and wanting to believe that Ric was going to be fine and that got you hurt," Damon informed her passionately, an element of self loathing tinting is words. He turned and laid on his back next to her, running one hand over his smooth face.

"Killing Ric was a last resort. And then there's Klaus. Klaus had you 'under his protection,' whatever that means, as long as Ric was loose and he had the stake. Now, two birds with one stone. My only other option was to lock Ric up - and you know how that turned out for Samantha Gilbert - and pray that his psychotic side eventually decided to tell me where the stake was. At least now I can tell Klaus he can stop worrying about both of those because Ric can no longer hurt you and the location of the stake died with him."

Addie inhaled loudly, her lips pressing into a thin, furious line. Her small hand sought out his and gave him a reassuring squeeze. Through gritted teeth she hissed, "It always comes back to Klaus."

He made a noise of agreement. She pressed a soft kiss to the back of his hand as conflicted emotions warred inside her. Klaus had caused them, particularly Damon, a lot of unwarranted stress and suffering. If Klaus wasn't the maker of his bloodline, Addie wanted Damon to have a chance to get his revenge. Murdering Klaus wasn't exactly murdering an innocent. And she wasn't particularly hung up on whether or not Damon chose to be fair anymore. It was perfectly acceptable for him to plan a sneak attack considering Klaus had stood by while his sister tortured Damon. But Klaus was a force to be reckoned with. If Damon tried to go after him, it would more than likely end up with Damon having his heart ripped out, which was not acceptable. She wasn't going to tell him about finding the stake, not unless something significantly tipped the scales in his favors of surviving an encounter with Klaus.

"You're coming over for dinner," Addie informed him, curling up next to him, resting her head on his bare shoulder.

He stifled a chuckle. "Thanks but you can't cook. I know I've got the whole immortality, perfect health thing going for me but I'd rather not tempt fate and see if I am susceptible to your food poisoning."

"Very funny," she said seriously, poking him in the side. "Nobody in my house can really cook. Elena is transferring takeout to serving dishes and we're all just supposed to politely pretend that she made it. Or Jeremy and I will overrule her and order a shitload of greasy, cheesy pizza."

"So, we're doing a family dinner? Me, you, Elena, and Jeremy?" Damon asked skeptically.

"Well, Elena and Stefan are apparently a thing again so I expect that he'll be there too."

"That's a good thing, right? It should make things less awkward between all of us now," he observed, rubbing her back reassuringly.

Addie shrugged and draped her arm around his waist, "I don't know. I haven't seen her yet."

"Well, I'm sure it will be better. So, this family dinner is you, me, Stefan, Elena, and Jeremy?"

"Yes," she laughed slightly. "Would you like me to write you a guest list?"

"No, no. I just noticed there's someone missing from this dysfunctional family dinner and I think others might notice too," pointed out Damon.

"Yeah, um, we're not gonna tell anybody you killed Ric, ok?" Addie whispered to him conspiratorially.

He frowned. That was fine in theory but in reality, people were going to start asking questions. "Love, the last time anyone saw him was Sunday. It's Thursday. I'm supposed to be playing babysitter, not attending awkward family dinners. I'm not quite sure how you're going to explain that."

"I told Jeremy he was off on some spirit quest to find himself," she replied simply.

"And I just let him go off on that spirit quest?" he asked disbelievingly.

Addie gave him a flirtatious smile and sweet said, "He was taking his herbs. He was doing fine. It wasn't your job to play babysitter anymore. Plus, you thought spending time with your beautiful, loving, amazing, perfect, awesome girlfriend was a better use of your time."

He hooked a finger under her chin and gave her a soft kiss, murmuring against her lips, "I'd believe that." Pulling away he looked at her curiously. Lying was more his style than it was hers. "Why can't we just tell the truth?"

She sighed heavily, resting her chin on his shoulder, her fingers mused his perfectly styled dark locks. That had to have been the first thing he had done after getting out of the shower. His nose scrunched up slightly as he pretended to be annoyed. "Because I plan on having you in my life for a long time and if you're in my life that means you're in my family's life. We've got a lot more birthdays, Christmases, and Thanksgivings to get through. It would be nice if my brother didn't try to kill you on every occasion and my sister didn't go between helping him to pretending to be nice to flat out being rude to you to trying to seduce you. I mean, Elena's reaction is a little unpredictable but she was _really_ mad at you when you snapped Alaric's neck this summer. Of course then she had the ulterior motive of trying to turn you into Stefan and that probably exacerbated the problem. This time Alaric's dead _dead_ , though, so she might still be the same level of mad or maybe even -"

"You're rambling," he interrupted.

"Sorry."

Momentarily distracted, Damon gave her a small, crooked grin. "So, I'm gonna be around for birthdays, Christmases, and Thanksgiving and all those family events for a long time?"

Addie felt herself blush as her stomach knotted. It amazed her that he could still make her feel butterflies after so long. "That's the plan."

He inhaled as if in pain, shook his head and said doubtfully, "I don't know. I know we have another 14 years agreed to but I didn't realize I signed up for the whole family side of it. I mean, one of the really great parts about dating you is not having to impress your parents."

She rolled her eyes, the corners of her lips twitching. "I'm glad you find humor in my orphan status."

"You know I'd never say anything if I thought it would upset you," he said seriously, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She nodded. "Ads, I can't wait for our future together. I know how much Jeremy and Elena mean to you and I've always known they're part of the package. Our relationship with them as a couple shouldn't be bui-" Damon cut himself off, frowning in confusion. This was backwards. "Why am I," he pointed to himself, "trying to talk you," he gestured to her, "out of lying to your sibling to protect me?" he finger rested over his heart.

"You're having an attack of conscious when comes to lying about killing Alaric but have no moral issue with killing him?" Addie questioned, making sure she understood what was going on.

Damon tilted his head as he considered this. "That's what I'm trying to understand. That sounds right but it doesn't make sense."

Her lips pursed as she studied his baffled expression. "You having a conscious doesn't make sense."

"I have one, I just usually ignore it except when it comes to…," he trailed off as realization set in. "Addie, I can lie to your siblings; I don't have a problem with that. I'm not comfortable with you lying to them to protect me."

"Aww, you'd think this was the first time I've lied to my brother and sister," she cooed, giving him a quick kiss. "It's not. I actually do it on a regular basis. In fact, when they ask how school was today, we're both gonna lie and act like I was there all day."

"You know, I'm used to lying to girls but this lying as a couple thing is kinda hot," he smirked, raising a suggestive eyebrow at her. Damon sobered as his fingers ran through her hair, the dark red tresses slipping thru like silk. "This is different, Ads. This is big. And you should really be in school."

Addie pulled away from him and sat cross legged on the bed. "I should be in school but I was too stressed out about my boyfriend, who just killed his best friend. He _was_ your best friend; I don't count," she said, raising her voice to talk over him as he started to interrupt. "If you want to act like it doesn't bother you, fine. I'll drop it. I'll pretend that you weren't screwed up last night. _For now._ But we do have to deal with the fact that my brother and sister will never forgive you if they ever find out what you did. You know how important my family is to me."

Her hands slowly raked through her hair as she further elaborated on a story he already knew. "My parents were getting divorced. I was going to have to do the whole two Christmases, two Thanksgivings, two birthdays, and all that awkward broken family shit. The night my parents died was the last family game night. It was the last normal moment I was going to have with my family. And Elena couldn't be bothered with it; some party was more important. You know how that story ends. Point is, I don't can't remember the last normal moment I had with my family; the last time that didn't end with my parents arguing or Elena or me being a horrible brat. The whole last year I had with my family was a mess. Things aren't perfect now but I _try_ with my sister."

"Jeremy and Elena are my family and you're my family, too. They have to accept you. I can't do the two of everything. I don't want a broken family, Damon. If they know you killed Alaric, _their family_ , that will be my only option," Addie explained, biting her lip to keep the tears at bay.

Damon rolled his neck as he sat up across from her. He wasn't sure lying to her siblings was the healthiest approach but if that's what Addie felt she needed to do to keep control over her life he'd go along with it. He nodded, pulling her into his lap. "Ok," he agreed, becoming more comfortable with the idea as she snugly and securely wrapped her arms around him, "we will do whatever you want."

"Thank you," she murmured, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

He groaned inwardly as he glanced at the clock. While this school thing was convenient when he needed to keep Addie distracted, it was mostly just a pain in the ass and a place where he couldn't protect her. "As much as I would love to do this all day," his hands gently cradled her face as he kissed her, slow and deep, "you should get back to school."

"I should," she agreed, playing with the ends of his hair, "but I don't have any dry pants."

He gave her a disapproving look. Addie gave him a wide grin and shrugged innocently. Damon cocked a challenging eyebrow and tugged at the elastic of her gym shorts. "What's your excuse for skipping track practice?"

"I'm being environmentally conscious and not wasting gas driving from here to school to home. It would be one thing if school was on my way home but it's out of the way and that's a waste of gas and that's harmful to the environment," Addie explained diplomatically. He shook his head. Dramatically she rolled her eyes and loudly exhaled, "I'm doing this for _you._ I'm not the one who's going to live for eternity. I'm not the one who is going to suffer when sea levels rise so high that the whole world becomes flooded because all the glaciers have melted from global warming."

* * *

Damon stroked his chin thoughtfully as he sat in the Gilbert's living. After a near argument he had eventually pushed Addie into going to practice that afternoon. Last night he had wanted her comfort and that morning he had been disappointed with her leaving. But the way she had left, he knew there was some anger and resentment brewing in her. As he had told her, he knew the risk of that happening, though he hoped it wouldn't. It hadn't surprised him that she was still concerned about him; that was why he had turned his phone off. Addie hadn't wanted to be around him that morning because she had felt conflicted. Her conflict and confusion wasn't something that he wanted rubbing off on him. There was a part of her that forgave him and still accepted him for what he had done. Damon didn't deserve that.

He had failed her. He had failed a close friend, again. He should have found some way to save Ric. He should have fought harder. He should have monitored him more closely and made sure he took the herbs. Something dark had been trying to take control of Ric and he should have known that Ric would succumb to it. How many times had he watched Stefan turn back into a ripper? Killing Ric that final time, after he had to bite off the Gilbert ring off the finger of his alter ego in a scene eerily reminiscent to _Lord of the Ring: Return of the King_ , had brought up emotions he hadn't felt since a fatal New Year's Eve party in 1957. The only reason he had clung onto his humanity, unlike them, was because of his love for Addie. He never wanted to lose how he felt about her, even if his actions made him lose her feelings.

His love for Addie and that that he was doing what he had to do to protect her wasn't enough to protect him from the traitorous thoughts of his mind. He couldn't help feeling guilty and miserable about having loss Ric. Even when he had been with Addie those horrible emotions were at the forefront of his mind. It didn't help when she had come over, worried about him. While all he wanted to do was drown himself in his entire stock of liquor from the comfort of his bed he couldn't do that because he had to act collected and put together. Not only was Addie's concern something he didn't deserve, she wouldn't know what to do if he actually broke down in front of her.

Addie had weird issues with death. He was surprised that she hadn't completely freaked out on him. When he had met Addie that rainy night in the middle of the road her life was spiraling out of control as so much anger and rage consumed her that she couldn't handle the reality of her parents death. She had wanted him to kill her before her basic instinct kicked in and she fought back. For some reason he was driven to help her rather than kill her and compelled her to take control of her life. It was one of the best decisions he'd ever made. She had only managed to handle herself a little better when Jenna and John died. Always, her outrage at the situation had been unjustly directed at her sister. Blaming Elena was how she coped.

This time he had killed Alaric to protect her. If she used her insane, irrational logic that only made sense to her, it would be her fault that he killed Alaric. Or she could choose to handle it like a normal person and blame him for it, in which case he didn't really need anyone else making him feel any guiltier, which would make it more likely for him to crack. If she saw him break, she was more likely to blame herself, which he couldn't have.

Strangely, though, Addie had been reacting extremely detached and distant compared to his expectations. He wasn't sure if that had to do with all the death and carnage she had witnessed during her time with Klaus and Stefan or if she just wasn't allowing herself to feel. While Ric's death might not move her, Damon's decision to kill him definitely had an impact on her. She had to be having stronger reactions to his action than what she was showing.

The evening had been largely uneventful considering the involved parties. Jeremy had been home when Addie got back from practice and called Damon over. Elena and Stefan had stayed late to decorate for the dance. They got to the house about the same time the pizza did. There was an exchange of nasty looks between the sisters at the food choice but no word verbal sparring. As they ate, the topic of conversation had largely consisted of Jeremy retelling their adventure fleeing from Kol. Addie had seemed appropriately interested. Stefan and Elena had been a quite focused in each other, which suited Damon just fine. If it meant his girlfriend felt secure in their relationship and convinced there was nothing going on between him and her sister, he'd put up with watching his brother exchange heated looks with Elena. He was always going to assume it meant Stefan wasn't convinced that Elena was in love with him.

Addie slapped Jeremy's hand as he reached for her pizza box for the third time and scolded, "Eat your own."

"I finished mine," he explained, reaching for the box again. She hit him harder. "Hey!"

Sharply she retorted, "Eat the other one."

"It has olives."

"Not." Hand slap. "My." He reached with the other hand. "Problem!" _Smack!_

"Ow!"

"Oh, my God, Addie! It's just pizza and you have two slices left. Just give him one," Elena ordered, curled up on the chair with Stefan.

Damon rolled his eye and both Jeremy and Addie looked at her incredulously. That was just going to further resolve Addie's decision to _not_ share. She scoffed, "Uh, no. I'm eating them."

"You are not going to eat an entire large pizza."

Challenge accepted. "Yeah, I am."

"No, you're not."

"Yes, I am."

"Oh, please. You _can't_.

"Just watc- hey!" Addie slapped Damon's hand but he was already holding a slice of extra cheesy pizza.

He cocked an innocent eyebrow at her as he took a large bite. This wouldn't be Addie's first or second or even third attempt to eat an entire pizza. She could do it but she was going to feel sick all night. He was saving her from her own stubbornness. Appalled, Addie's jaw dropped. Shrugging, around a full mouth Damon said, "I'm hungry."

She scrambled up from the floor and next to him on the couch, reaching for the slice, light bouncing off the greasy surface. "That's not what you eat," she reproached.

"No but unless Elena or Jeremy are offering up a vein," he taunted, taking another bite.

"I was gonna eat that," Addie complained, sulking next to him.

"Oh, well," Damon viciously chewed at what was in his mouth before sticking his tongue out and showing it to her, "'till 'ant it?"

She gave a groan of disgust and shoved him away, muttering, "You're worse than my brother."

"Not really," Jeremy snickered before showing her a mouth full of mashed up food.

Finding her box empty she lunged at her brother, going after the slice of pizza he held. Being much slower than Damon and also sitting on the floor, he was a much easier target. Jeremy was able to keep the slice away from Addie but she tackled him to the ground.

"Give it back!" she demanded, clawing for his out-stretched arm as they squabbled between the small space between the couch and the coffee table.

Damon had heard plenty of times about the physical quarrels that Addie and Jeremy had gotten into. Pizza was a very minor, non-issue and he highly doubted it would lead to physical blows. She would be fine.

Jeremy managed to toss the food onto the table before defending himself. As she dug her elbow into his ribs, he gritted out, "I took the first bite; it's mine."

"It was _my_ pizza! That rule does not apply," protested Addie as they continued to swat, bat, push, and shove at each other.

A searing pain shot through Jeremy's forearm and he immediately broke out her hold. She had _bit_ him. In retaliation he jabbed two fingers into the hollow between her neck and collarbone.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!" she cried, trying to move away from him but finding herself trapped between her brother and the furniture.

Instinct kicked in and Damon's grabbed Jeremy's wrist and twisted until Jeremy was the one making sounds of pain and not Addie. Stefan, Elena, and Addie all reacted at once.

"Hey!"

"Damon!"

"Stop!"

His grip loosened slightly as he assessed Addie for injury. Her cheeks and nose were bright red and her eyes glisten with unshed tears but the fury brightening them told him she was fine. Shit. Damon quickly let go of Jeremy. That anger was from a lot more than pizza.

"You ok?" she asked her brother softly as he rotated and massaged his wrist. He gave a slight nodded as they clambered over each other to sit back up. At a loss, Addie looked at her sister for help.

That was all the _go_ Elena. Jumping to her feet she pointed a warning finger at Damon and yelled, "You don't _ever_ touch him like that!"

He unconsciously stood in an offensive manner and snorted, "How about he never touches your sister like that and I won't have to?"

"They were just screwing around! There was no reason for you to do that!"

" _He hurt her!_ " he said slow and loud, not understanding how she had missed that obvious fact.

Elena shook her head and threw her hands up in disbelief. "No, he didn't!"

"I'm sorry does 'ow' have a different translation?" he bit back wryly.

"Addie must have hurt him first; otherwise, Jeremy wouldn't have hurt her," explained Elena defensively.

Feeling slightly guilty, Addie admitted, "I might have bitten him."

"Might? You did!"

"Frankly, I don't give a damn who did what first. Addie could have tortured the hell out him and I'll still break his hand if he so much as pinched her in response," threatened Damon, his voice low and lethal.

"Do you hear yourself?" she asked incredulously. Elena exchanged an aggravated look with her sister. Addie held her hands up to signal she was staying out of the conversation. "They're never going to really hurt each other. They're siblings. They fight. It's normal. It's stupid to get between two siblings. I mean, do I look stupid enough to get between you and Stefan?"

Damon was ready to respond until he actually heard her words. His brows furrowed and lips pursed as he looked towards Addie for confirmation that Elena had actually said that. Addie awkwardly scratched at the back of her neck as she fought to keep from laughing, unable to meet Damon's eye.

He quirked an eyebrow at Stefan. "Brother, care to comment?"

His face was blank as he feigned ignorance. "I think Addie and Jeremy are capable of not killing each other without you running interference."

"Oh, yeah, right," Damon nodded sardonically, "I forgot just how great Ric is at controlling those urges to kill anyone having anything to do with vampires. Jeremy also happens to wear one of those nifty little rings that fuels homicidal tendencies but he's going to be able control them, just like Ric."

"Jeremy's fine!" Elena snapped. Her voice was a little too high to convince him she wasn't still concerned about her brother.

He continued to nod. "Yeah because he's going to confess to all the crazy murders he's been up to. We don't _know_ that Jeremy hasn't been blacking out and going psycho. We don't know that these rings aren't _timed_ to screw up ever 90 years. We _think_ it's related to how many times someone's died wearing the ring but we know nothing."

"Yeah but based on what we _think_ , we know Jeremy's one life short because _you_ can't handle rejection," she snarled, getting right in Damon's face. "If something is wrong with my brother, once again, it will be _all your fault_. You were the one who kil-"

The vein in his temple visibly pulsed as his face turned scarlet. Addie wasn't sold on the idea of spontaneous combustion but if it was possible, Damon was nanoseconds from proving it. She need Elena's anger off of him. Not thinking beyond the imminent possibility of her brother ripping out her sister's heart Addie calmly said over Elena, "If Jeremy's an insane killer we'll just put him on the herb tonic like Alaric!"

"Jeremy's fine!" repeated Elena forcefully. As if suddenly realizing she demanded, "Where is Ric?"

Addie waved her hand dismissively and tried to change the topic, "He decided to hike and camp out into the mountains on some sort of guilt induced spirit quest. Can we get this little ghostly seance thing done before someone kills someone?"

"Fine," her sister seethed, glaring at Damon. "Do you need us for anything?"

"You and Stefan?" Jeremy checked. He shook his head. "No, I don't think so."

"We'll be upstairs then," Elena said, grabbing Stefan's hand and leaving the room.

"Alright Whoopi, what do you need?" Damon asked, clapping his hands and rubbing them together, eager to get started. "Candles? Incense? Pottery wheel?"

Addie rolled her eyes and sighed impatiently, "He's not a witch. That's not how it works." She really wasn't fond of this idea.

"Yeah, yeah, push/pull," said placatingly as he dropped down into the chair Elena and Stefan had vacated.

Jeremy thought for a moment. "Alright, um, you got a picture of her?"

"Picture?" scoffed Damon. "Of what? Our trip to Disneyland?"

That made Addie feel marginally better. Damon was always taking selfies of them; though, she suspected he mostly did it to annoy her, knowing it made her uncomfortable to look at them.

"Come on, Rose. You're not gonna actually make us wait, are you?" In a teasing voice Damon added, "I know you're obsessed with me."

Crossing her arms, Addie sulked into the overstuffed couch. Arrogant idiot.

"How about you tell me something personal about her?" Jeremy suggested.

"Well, she does this little thing with her tongue that -"

A balled up napkin struck him in the face, cutting him off. Addie _really_ wasn't fond of this idea. She scowled at him, "Something that matters."

A crease formed between his eyebrows as he thought. He frowned as only one thing came to mind. "You sure the tongue thing won't work?" Damon asked Jeremy hopefully. "I mean, it's pretty unique."

Addie made a soft noise of disgust. She knew Damon had hardly been selective in his promiscuous past but most were one night stands. He screwed around with Rose for weeks and he learned nothing about her? Her eyes narrowed and jaw clenched angrily. She wished she could just believe he had been indiscriminate and detached but she had seen him after Rose's death. He had felt _something_ for her.

Jeremy shook his head. "No. Addie's right; it has to be something that matters."

Damon scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably and sighed, "She spent her last day in paradise, soaking in the sun and reminiscing about what it means to be human. And when death came, she didn't fear it."

"She died of a werewolf bite; that's painful. Not to mention she didn't have a daylight ring and would have burned in the sun," Addie said smartly, calling out his lie.

"It was in the dream he gave her," Jeremy told her, smiling slightly. "It worked. She's here."

Damon looked around the room, frowning when he couldn't see her. "Is she still hot?"

"Idiot," Addie muttered softly to herself.

Jeremy smirked, "She says you're an idiot and that you're lucky Addie puts up with you." He was quiet for a moment before continuing, "She was sired by someone name Mary Porter."

Damon groaned,"Ugh. Scary Mary. So, where is she, Rose?"

"She doesn't know but she's going to go see what she can find out," Jeremy relayed for the ghost.

"Great. Now that you can see her, do you need me to make contact again?"

Jeremy shook his head. "I shouldn't."

"Good," Damon replied as he stood up. "Let me know when she any news."

Frowning, Addie followed Damon to the front door. Feeling her brother's eyes on them she quietly inquired in confusion, "You're leaving?"

"Yeah. I've got some stuff to take care of," he said evasively. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before stepping outside. "I'll see you later."

There was a hollow feeling in the pit of her stomach. She followed him, closing the door behind her. His foot was on the first step when she asked, "When's later? Are you coming back tonight?"

She could see his shoulders tense under the black fabric of his shirt and his hand ran through his hair, an anxious habit he'd picked up from her. Damon was conflicted; being around her wasn't a wise idea but if he wasn't there for her at night she had nightmares and he didn't want that. "I'll see you later," he repeated, not turning around.

"No," Addie said sharply, grabbing him by the elbow as he started to walk away again, "that's not what I asked. What the hell, Damon? What's going on? Why are you avoiding me?"

"I'm not-"

"Don't lie to me," she warned.

"I just… I need some space," he shrugged, not knowing what else to say.

" _You_ need space? How are you the one in this situation that gets the space?" she asked incredulously. "Are you mad at me? Do you blame me or something?"

"Of course not!" he answered quickly.

"Then what is it?"

"I don't kn-"

"Don't lie to me!" repeated Addie. She could feel something wrong between them; there was just something that was simply off and she couldn't quite put her finger on it. And she couldn't tell if it was her weird vampy sense tingling to alert her about some kind of deception from Damon or if it was just part of being in a relationship and knowing and understanding him that was causing her to feel like a dark cloud loomed over them.

Damon took a loud, deep breath as he tried not to react to her temper. "I'm just going to leave," he said, raising his hands in surrender as walked off the porch backwards. "You don't want me to lie and I don't want to talk about it."

She gawked at him in disbelief. She expected him to act odd after Alaric's death but she didn't expect him to shut her out.

* * *

It was close to midnight when Addie felt the bed dip. The most surprising part was that Damon had shown up; he frequently filtered in and out of her room, never making a sound. He settled next to her, several inches between her back and his chest, still his arm draped over her waist.

Slightly bitter Addie whispered, "What are you doing here?"

"Have you been to sleep yet?" Damon asked softly.

"No. Now answer my question," she bit back curtly.

"Just because I need some time for myself doesn't mean I'm going to let you suffer. My goal is to always protect you," he said gently.

Damon's protection was getting to be too excessive; it had led to him killing Alaric and he was willing to die to to kill Klaus when Klaus wasn't even threatening her. But then he would do things like staying with her every night so she could sleep better and that was sweet. Though she was a little annoyed with him being there if he had decided that he had needed space from her. It felt like a pity comfort or that he was just doing it out of some obligation or duty. She didn't want that.

"I didn't know you did that for Rose," muttered Addie. A part of her wanted to argue with him about something but she wasn't up to starting the colossal fight they needed to have about him being overprotective. "Apparently you can mind rape people for the better good."

Damon inhaled deeply and held his breath for a moment as he collected his thoughts. He knew she was taking a jab at when he had invaded her dreams after he turned Bonnie's mother and realized that the reason she was pushing him away was because she felt that he was more concerned about protecting her than loving her. It was possible that it was also a slight jab to when he read Rebekah's mind to find out about the second White Oak tree.

"If you recall, I was trying to give you a good dream," he exhaled slowly.

"You were tricking me into talking to you and telling you things that I didn't want to discuss with me. You gave Rose a comforting dream of rainbows and unicorns," she grumbled.

The was a dull ache starting at his temple. He sighed warily, "I thought we were over the whole dream thing."

Addie mumbled bitingly, "Yeah, well…"

Damon softly snorted as an idea came to him. "You're not actually jealous, are you?"

"No!" she answered far too quickly.

"You are," he chuckled certainly.

"No, I'm not," she continued to protest.

He pushed at her shoulder lightly until she laid on her back. Addie, stubborn as ever, still faced away from him. His finger and index finger gently grabbed her chin and turned her to face him. She complied but scowled at him.

"You have absolutely no reason to be jealous, love. Rose was just a friend. You are everything," reassured Damon, smiling down at her.

Curtly she sneered, "We were basically dating and you slept with her."

Damon's lips pressed into a thin line. Technically they were not dating and he had not cheated on her. Even if they were dating they had never discussed anything about being exclusive. She was the one who decided to get all petty about it and cut him out of her life. In his despair he'd comforted himself with booze and sex. Rose just happened to be a convenient partner right down the hall. Now that he thought about it, perhaps he just needed to stay away from anything having to do with sex when they weren't _technically_ dating if there was even a chance of them getting back together. She'd been pretty upset about the Rebekah/Sage thing, as well.

"I thought we were past that."

"Yeah, well," Addie repeated sulkily.

"I've told you before that was just sex. Ads, you are my one and only, There's no reason to be upset," he said tenderly, brushing his thumb along her cheek as he cupped her face.

"That's what I don't get, the upset part. When Rose died you had some kind of existential crisis. You went out and sloppily killed that woman, risking your cover. Then you actually cried in front of me; not that there's anything wrong with that but I've never seen you expression emotion like that. Ric dies and it's, I don't know. I expect more of a reaction from you," Addie vented, confronting him about what had been bothering her all day. She'd gone over to his house in the middle of the school day because she thought he'd done something stupid again, thought he needed her to be there for her but he had been fine, more or less.

Damon cringed at her recollection. That had been embarrassing. He felt trapped; normally Addie didn't discuss her emotions or how she was feeling. Now she was admitting what had been bothering her and communicating with him like he wanted her to do. He didn't want to talk. However, shutting her out would make him a hypocritical dick.

"Do you remember what I was upset about after Rose died?" he asked. Perhaps he could steer the conversations so he was able to avoid talk about what was really bothering him.

Addie nodded. "Of course. Your humanity, more specifically, how you missed being human."

"Right. In that dream I gave Rose, she made me confront just how deeply I felt for you. I kept trying to deny it because I knew what it meant. You are a direct link to my humanity and admitting my feelings for you would be opening the flood gates. I had been keeping my humanity in check, in small, measured doses. Once I face how I felt for you, that was it. It was an emotion overload built up over years and I just snapped," Damon explained. "It had nothing to do with Rose's death."

"Oh," Addie said in a small voice. Her jaw clench and it felt like a knife pierced her stomach.

"Ads, I didn't kill that woman because of you," he soothed, sensing her distress. "It happened because I don't know how to handle my emotions. And it's because I don't know how to handle my emotions that I just need a little bit of space. My humanity and you go hand in hand. Killing Ric was a simple decision because I knew I had to protect you but that didn't make it easy. The only reason I could do it with my humanity still on was because of how much I love you. When I'm not around you it's easier to shove my feelings aside, good and bad. That's what I need to do right now. I can't think about Ric," Damon confessed. It was mostly the truth, it just didn't expose everything. She didn't need to know that he didn't want her to be around so he could drink himself into oblivion and forget what he had done. She didn't need to know that he didn't want to discuss the situation with her because she was weird about death.

Concerned, she asked, "You sure that's the healthy way to go about this?"

Damon raised the shoulder he wasn't leaning on in a slight shrug. "Don't know, don't care. It's what I want to do."

Addie raised her eyebrows at him, as if questioning how serious he was. He sounded an awful lot like her. "Alright," she conceded. "I'm here if you do want to talk about it, though."

"I know," he grin. He gave her a chaste, lingering kiss.

"You don't have to stay the night, you know. I'm a big girl. I'm pretty sure I can take care of myself."

He realized she was trying to respect his wish for space but there was no way he was leaving her to the nightmares. "Nah," he said, snuggling her. "Truth is that I'm a selfish dick and I sleep better with you in my arms. You can count on me being here every night."

* * *

Damon had pretended to sleep as Addie had done her best to silently get ready for school the following morning. He decided to feign another hour of sleeping as he didn't want to get caught by Elena or Jeremy. It was likely that he could get the job done silently but he didn't want to take any chances.

He hadn't lied the previous evening when he had told Addie he had stuff to do. In a moment of bourbon inspired clarity he had an idea of where Ric might have meant when he said 'where no vampire will ever get' the White Oak stake. Eagerly he had gone to the tunnels on the Lockwood property and followed the path to the cave paintings, a section warded against vampires. The cave was empty, however. He had been so certain that it had been in there. So certain that he wondered if someone may have already moved it. Addie was the only person he had told about Alaric's cryptic message. She was a very clever girl; it was more than possible that she had deciphered the clue people he had.

He'd wondered why she hadn't told him about it before concluding that it was probably because that she didn't want him using it. She was mental if she believed that he was going to kill Ric and he wasn't going to kill Klaus. He knew he had promised her to be more cautious with his life and when he went to take down Klaus, he would be.

Jeremy had texted Damon to tell him that Mary Potter was dead. While Damon knew Scary Mary in the carnal sense, he had no significant memories that could conjure her spirit. Tracing back his lineage was a dead end. That left a 75% chance that he wouldn't die if he managed to kill him because of the bloodline issue. The odds weren't that bad; a 75 was a passing grade. He would take those chances to keep her safe from Klaus. If it _didn't_ pan out in his favor, well, at least she would be safe and she would hopefully have the normal life she always wanted.

Thankfully her room was sparse and didn't afford for a lot of hiding places. The desk was the first place he raided but all he found were old school papers, about 1000 index cards for various subject and a couple of pairs of different style headphones. Remembering she had hid the moonstone in a pocket of one of his jackets, he checked her closet to see if she had done something similar. He searched through the drawers of her dresser to no avail.

His frustration grew as he began to run out of places to look. An old memory suddenly popped into his head, giving him renewed inspiration. Addie had once pulled a sword out from under her mattress. He didn't quite remember why she had an unsharpened, Japanese style sword under her mattress; there were a lot of odd facts about her that he didn't understand.

A tingling thrill of anticipation and excitement rushed through him when he lifted the mattress and found the White Oak stake. He had to act fact. He had to act while Addie was giving him space and before she realized the stake was gone, otherwise she'd try to stop him.

Damon grinned wickedly as he looked into the mirror. Klaus' time was up.

* * *

 **A/N: Yay! Fun with Klaus coming up! AND everyone finds out the truth about Alaric. I recognize this chapter is pretty weak based on some feedback but I'm not catching where. I rewrote every scene. Thank you guys so much for all your comments and follows and adding this to your favorites!**

 **Please guys review. Even if it is just a period. I'm really on edge with doing Resist. You have no idea how much these two stories have consumed the last two years of my life. Resist is controversial and something I'd swore I'd never write but Invisible was directionless until I had an idea from a chapter (It's referenced here! Two cookies and a Damon if you can put together Addie's significance.) and I really don't know how y'all will react. This writing takes all my free time. Seriously, my life is school/work and writing this. And I'm usually writing this during breaks at work/school. It's nice to know you guys enjoy this.**

 **Oh! Also, seeing as it's taking me so long to turn out chapters, I'm thinking I might not reach the canon holidays in time for the real holidays. (It would be in Resist.) Would you guys be interested in a one-shot holiday special? It wouldn't give away any spoilers. This is just an idea I'm floating around. Another is shortening Hostage to quickly get to that point in Resist. That might come out a little after the holidays...**


	27. Chapter 26

The confined space had the nauseating smell of heated hair and aerosol hairspray. Addie hed her breath to keep from coughing as her sister set more large curls with the hazardous chemical.

"This is so messed up," she mumbled as she watched her sister wrap another lock of dark red hair around the large curling iron.

Elena studied her sister's reflection in the mirror and then looked at the curls closer up. The loose, large spirals were turning out as she expected. "Seems to be going ok to me," she disagreed.

"The situation," Addie sighed dramatically, rolling her eyes. "I'm the one crashing your guys' girls' date and, yet, somehow, I'm the one who is ending up dateless at a dance that I don't even want to go to."

"That might be because you're the only one going for all the wrong reasons. Most people don't go on dates to avoid their boyfriends," Elena pointed out chattily, watching her sister out of the corner of her eye for any kind of reaction in the mirror.

"I'm not going for the wrong reasons; I'm going to go hangout with my sister and best friends but they've all suddenly gotten boy crazy," she objected moodily. "And I'm not avoiding Damon."

"We," Elena waved the curling iron between, "don't hangout. We don't talk. We barely coexist and the fact that we are doing so in a confined space without trying to kill each other and actually being civil suggests that one, or both, of us has ulterior motives. Considering you're the one who suddenly decided to raid the drama department's costume closet and are letting me treat you like a lifesize Barbie, I'm gonna guess that one is you. Plus, you're being weirder than normal."

"Well, Bonnie's now going with Jamie, you're going with Stefan and Caroline's not coming because she's sneaking around with Tyler. Girls' night got crashed by guys; I'll admit to being a little bum," Addie said dismissively. Just because she was being civil with her sister did not mean she wanted to sit down and have a heartfelt conversation.

Elena set her light, casual manner aside and bluntly said, "We can reschedule girls' night. You're hiding out at the dance."

"So, are Stefan and you officially back together?"

"I don't know. We haven't really discussed that," she answered uninterestedly. "Why are you avoiding Damon?"

"I'm not avoiding Damon." grumbled Addie. She didn't really want to discuss her relationship with her sister. It was at his insistence that she was going to this damn thing. "I'm just a little upset with him for hurting Jeremy last night. He needs to know that is _not_ ok."

"Silent treatment to punish bad behavior," Elena said approvingly, attacking Addie's hair with another round of the hairspray.

That was enough of the sisterly bonding. The last time she gave Damon the silent treatment he ripped through the NYC meat district; she wasn't stupid enough to do that again. The bitter chemicals tickled her nose, making Addie sneeze. When Elena came at her again with the iron, Addie waved her away and jumped out of the chair, firmly declaring, "You're done."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait!" insisted Elena, dragging her sister back into the bathroom. She grabbed a large hair clip that reflected several black stones and slid it into Addie's hair, on the left side of her haid. Satisfied that the clean part, flowing curls, an appropriately bejeweled accessory made for a fitting 1920s hairstyle given short notice, Elena decided she was finished with an approving nod.

* * *

"I'll be damned if I understand why but my sister insisted on me coming to this blasted thing," said a cool, accented voice as a shadow fell over the glowing screen of Addie's cellphone. She had felt his presence and the darkness that clung to him before he had even said anything.

"Did she bring a purse?" Addie mumbled as she leaned against the wall of the gym, invested in an electronic game of sudoku.

"Excuse me?" Odd question.

She gave him a quick glance; he looked nice in a light gray suit with a gray and blue striped tie. "Are you or are you not carrying her phone, keys, ectera, ectera?"

"Yes. What does that matter?"

Addie gave him a half-hearted smirk. She held up her hand to the side of her mouth and mocked whispering conspiratorially, "That's why you're here. Your sole purpose is to carry all her crap."

Klaus nodded as if suddenly enlightened, "That make so much more sense. I can't possibly understand how she thought I would enjoy this. The actuals 20s, yes. This? No."

"Well, you had such a grand time at the last school dance possessing Alaric and what not, she probably figured it would bring back fond memories," Addie mumbled as she filled in a square on the gameboard. It was far more interesting than watching people dance badly to bad music.

"Ah, yes," Klaus reminisced fondly as he draped an arm around her shoulders, "back when you all actually believed you could kill me. Speaking of Damon, where is your loyal guard dog?"

The fabric of his coat was rough against her skin, where the straps of the opulent and flashy, fitted flapper frock didn't cover it. A soft navy mesh over cobalt knit lining with scintillating dark blue sequin twirls in a gorgeous jazz age design, offset with streamlined blue beaded detail and feminine touches such as a high sleeveless sweetheart neck, the dress was a far call from Addie comfortable jeans and plaid but it looked straight out of the 1920s. She was tempted to brush Klaus off but she knew the message would be lost to him. Since Damon wasn't around to direct her frustration towards, Addie decided she could at least partially blame her feelings on Klaus.

"I figured I didn't need him," she replied with a curtness that wasn't there before. "Afterall, I thought I was under _your_ protection."

"Yes, well, that was while Alaric, his alter ego, and only weapon that could possibly kill me walked around free. Damon eliminated Alaric as I anticipated. The-"

"So you admit it's all your fault that his mind is going to be all fucked up from killing his best friend, yes?" she interrupted snidely.

Klaus raised an eyebrow of mild surprise and intrigue. "That's what you think is going to have him all fucked up?"

Addie rolled her eyes as she held out her keys and phone to Klaus; if she was going to put up with him, he may as well be useful. "Damon is one hundred types of fucked up for a million different reasons, but this is just the latest addition."

She didn't understand in the slightest. It was his love for her that was going to screw with his head. Klaus pocketed the items without thought. "What do you know about the last White Oak stake?"

She gasped in feigned shock. "You mean crazy Alaric not telling anyone where it was before he died wasn't part of your plan?"

"No. I actually figured Damon would be smart enough to get the location out of him first. I suppose his his temper got the better of him," he shrugged. "Alaric probably made a comment about how stunning you look tonight and Damon interpreted that to mean he was going to rape you. He tends to get a little protective when it comes to you."

"I thought that was the idea," she muttered. She didn't like Klaus using and manipulating Damon. Replaying his words she frowned in distaste. "Was that some backwards-ass compliment?"

Klaus frowned."I thought it was rather direct. Damon wasn't supposed to go off-the-rails protective until after he figured out where my stake is."

"Picky bastard." Pushing Damon into killing Ric wasn't enough for him?

"Because I'm not fond of there being an object that can kill me?" he laughed.

"You know, Damon would never tell you if he knew where the stake was."

Klaus gave her a knowing grin. "I know but you're a lot smarter than him. If you knew where that stake was, you'd tell me, right, Addison?"

"And why, precisely, would I be stupid enough to do that?" Addie asked warily.

"Because you know that if _Damon_ gets ahold of that stake, he will try and kill me. That's a suicide mission any way you spin it," he answered tauntingly, baiting her.

Addie scowled; she hated asking, mostly because he wanted her to. "How so?"

"Well, the most likely event will be I'll kill him as he tries to kill me. On the off chance that he does manage to kill me, well, I've sired his bloodline and you've seen how that plays out," Klaus answered haughtily.

"Cute," she muttered. Damon had informed her that Mary Porter was a dead end in the few words he did exchange with her that , it was highly unlikely that Klaus was telling the truth. A one in four chance.

"You think I'm lying?"

Addie shook her head innocently. "I'd never accuse you of something so _criminal_."

"You're a really bad liar, Addison," reprimanded Klaus.

"You're right. Honestly, I think you've turned so many people that you have no idea if you started Damon's line," she shrugged.

He raised a challenging eyebrow at her. "You want to risk that?"

Her lips twisted into a sour scowl; he knew the answer to that. Addie looked back out at the dance floor and couldn't resist an eyeroll. People were attempting dated dances such as the jitterbug and the handjive. The weren't even in the right decade. The music was awful and the flashing lights didn't mix with the 1920s. And the attire was tacky. School dances were awful.

"Dance with me," Klaus ordered as he followed her line of sight.

"I don't dance," she retorted bitter and monotonous.

"Sure you do. Addison, dance with me," he repeated, holding out his hand.

"No, Niklaus. I don't dance."

"Tell me, would you dance with Damon?"

Addie snorted humorlessly, "No. Damon would hardly be stupid enough to ask."

"I like to think of it as bravado as opposed to stupidity," Klaus winked charismatically.

"And I always like to think of your views of yourself to be a little warped compared to reality," she replied with a tight lipped smile.

"Reality is ever changing," he muttered pensively as they both stared out across the gym, converted into a dance hall.

Caroline looked stunning in her red dress and Tyler made for a handsome date. Addie had been surprised when the couple had arrived as she believed they were keeping a low profile as Tyler tried to break his sire bond to Klaus. The murderous glare the Original was giving the pair suggested there had been an interesting an exchange there that she had missed. Doubtless Addie would somehow know all the details before noon the following morning, however.

"Apart from the clothes and the music, this is nothing like the 1920s," observed Klaus.

"Oh, I don't know. You had prohibition then; there's not much drinking going on at a high school dance," Addie compared.

"I'm sure we could find just about the same amount of hooch," he snickered.

Dryly she remarked, "Somehow I get the sense that you didn't have to do any searching. It was more a matter of you snapping your fingers and it appearing as if by magic."

"True; that's pretty much how most things work," Klaus admitted. As his hand rested in his pocket, it registered that he had her phone and keys. He hadn't give the objects much thought when he had taken them from her earlier but now considered the implications. He held his arm out to her and asked, "Walk with me?"

"Why?" Addie inquired skeptically, placing her hand in the crook of his elbow nevertheless.

"It's a little loud in here?" he replied as if was uncertainly answering her with another question. He led her to the double gym doors, parting the paper streamers and ushering her out in front of him.

Addie's fingers tapped against him rhythmically as she followed him down one of the deserted, darkened hallways. The sounds of the dance grew fainter as they traveled further into the school. They seemed to be traveling aimlessly. Aloud she wondered, "What are you doing?"

"Damon killed Alaric two days ago," Klaus stated.

Not getting his point she uttered sardonically, "And in the latest news, circles are round, triangles have three sides and the Pope is Catholic."

"You and Damon are revoltingly codependent and seemingly attached at the hip when things are good and peaceful."

"Our relationship is never peaceful; there's always some Original bastard screwing with it in one way or another," Addie mumbled bitterly.

"I'm flattered to be such a big factor in your relationship," he teased, elbowing her slightly in the ribs. She didn't find it amusing. "You can't deny that Alaric is, _was_ , important, as well."

"To Damon." She wasn't like Elena and Jeremy; Addie knew better than to get attached. And it had always helped that if it weren't for Damon saving her, Alaric technically would have killed her.

Klaus nodded in acknowledgement. "Right. You know, I find it interesting that Damon kills someone so important and, now, you're suddenly not disgustingly bound together. Tell me, where is Damon tonight?"

Addie's lips pursed; discussing her relationship with Klaus was only marginally better than discussing it with Elena. At least Klaus knew the truth. "Would you quit shouting to the world what _you_ essentially blackmailed him into doing?"

"I didn't have to blackmail him into anything. Damon was going to kill Alaric for hurting you. That was the only way he could truly protect you from Alaric's dual personalities. All I might have done is pushed the fast forward button," Klaus responded defensively.

"Damon wasn't going to kill Alaric in cold blood," she insisted firmly. "You threatened my safety and he felt pressured into it."

Klaus snorted, "Yes, I can see how offering you more protection is a direct threat against your safety."

"He thought you were stalking me."

"It's not my fault he's an over-reactive, paranoid delusionist."

"You purposely screwed with his mind," Addie reprimanded in accusation.

"His mind is very imaginative; he makes it too easy," he shrugged innocently.

There was no arguing that Damon's worst enemy could be his own thoughts and he could develop some outlandish ideas. She didn't care what Klaus said; it was his words that had pushed Damon into actually killing Alaric. Left to his own devices Damon probably would have just kept him locked in the basement. Sighing, she pushed open one of the doors that led outside and walked out into the night. The air of early November was brisk but it seemed to sharpen her senses.

"What is it about us?" she demanded sharply. "What do you get out of screwing with Damon and me?"

Creases formed in Klaus' forehead as he pondered her question. "He wants to kill me, which, while he poses no significant threat, does make him a bit of a nuisance; I get the simple satisfaction of annoying him."

"Can't the two of you call, like a 'ceasefire?' He stops trying to kill you; you stop antagonizing him," Addie grumbled crossly. He kept screwing with their relationship just to annoy Damon?

"Why would we do that?"

"To stop this nonsense before someone else, namely one of you, ends up dead!"

"Aww! You care if I live or die," Klaus cooed.

"Don't fool yourself," she snapped dryly as she rubbed at her arms to warm them up. "Other than the fact that you might have sired his bloodline, which would result in Damon dying if you died, I really don't care."

"So," he rephrased as he helped her into his suit jacket, "your real concern is that I'm going to kill Damon."

"Thanks," Addie mumbled as the garment helped cut against the chill. Feeling annoyed and slightly petulant at his patronizing tone she headed towards the parking lot. "What is so wrong with me not wanting Damon to end up dead?"

In a singsong voice he taunted, "Clingy. Like I said, you guys are so codependent."

"Or, you know, in love?" she suggested. "I know that's a foreign concept to you but it actually does happen. People care capable of caring for each other. I mean, you're not because where your heart should be there's a lump of coal but, you know."

Klaus gave a mocking laugh as he draped an arm over her shoulder as they continued to walk. "You do realize that you both are so easy to control because of those feelings?"

Addie was never foolish enough to deny that the love between her and Damon was a weakness. It also just happened to be one of her most cherished, valuable assets. She gave him a rare, genuine smile. "Well, we all have our own kryptonite."

"I don't

"You're supposed to be this big, scary, immortal badass and yet you're afraid of a piece of wood," Addie said bluntly.

"I'm not afraid of it," he sneered mockingly. "I happen to like being the big, scary, immortal badass. I'd be stupid to not want to control the one thing that could end my immortality."

"I suppose it's lucky for you no one knows where that stake is," she lied smoothly. The last White Oak stake needed to be transferred to a more secure location than under her bed but at least no one had a clue as to where to start looking.

"It doesn't matter if it's lost. If it's lost it can be found. If it can be found it can be used. The smart thing to do would be to remove those who know about the stake out of the equation. At least if someone stumbles across it, they'll be less likely to know what to do with it," reasoned Klaus.

Addie came to an abrupt halt, her stomach feeling as if she had left it on the top of the hill of a roller-coaster. Slowly she said, "That's a lot of people."

"A lot of people _you_ care about."

"Are you making a threat?" she demanded, no longer in the mood to entertain him.

"Where's the stake, Addison?" growled Klaus.

She scoffed and rolled her eyes, "You already established that I would turn it over to you if I knew where it was."

Klaus looked towards the sky pensively as he stuck his hands in his pocket. "I'm leaving town soon."

"That's wonderful," Addie said, clapping her hands together in joy. There was some catch.

"I want the stake by then."

"I don't - Ah!" she cried out in pain. Klaus had grabbed her wrist and dug his thumbnail into the tender flesh, drawing a cut along it. Horrified, Addie watched as bright red blood bubbled to the surface. She tried to yank her hand away but his hold was too strong. "What the hell?"

He raised her wrist to his nose and inhaled deeply. His grin was dark, feral, predatory. "Just as I suspected. You're not on vervain."

Addie paled as her heart plummeted to her stomach.

"Addison," Klaus said firmly, his stormy blue eyes meeting clear ocean, "where is the stake?"

"I don't know," she answered more confidently than she felt, hoping she sounded convincing.

"Does Damon know?"

"No, Alaric wouldn't tell him."

Klaus debated the benefits of further compelling her. It was better to be certain before he jumped into a situation. Smirking he commanded, "You're going to follow me and you're not going to make a sound."

* * *

This was bad. This was very, very bad. Addie was at a cemetery in the middle of the night with Klaus, who thought she was under his compulsion. As the hybrid stalked back and forth in front of the old Salvatore crypt Addie couldn't help but feel like she was falling down a dark, bottomless shaft. Every instinct she had told her this was not going to end well. The agitated energy to Klaus was a foreboding symbol.

"I'm not convinced you're compelled," Klaus declared suddenly, coming to an abrupt halt in front of her.

Addie simply blinked at him; he hadn't given her permission to talk. He was right but she wasn't going to tell him that. Something told her that she was safest if he believed she was under his control.

Stroking his chin he ordered, "Tell me, have you ever drank Damon's blood?"

"Yes," she said shortly, her lips pressing into a thin line. Her stomach churned nauseously. There was no way Klaus had any idea of what Damon's blood had done to her.

"How much? How many times?"

She shifted uncomfortably. He couldn't know. Any good lie incorporated as much of the truth as possible. Addie blushed as she said in a small voice, "I don't know. He has a tendency to leave hickeys and I prefer not to walk around like that."

Klaus laughed heartily, "I actually believe that. That doesn't really answer my question, though. Has Damon ever healed a serious injury for you?"

A lump in her dry throat formed. She couldn't completely lie about that; too many people knew the truth. "Yes."

"When? How many times?" he barked again.

"Alaric Saltzman pierced my lung with a stake at the beginning of the year and after I got into a fight with him when I tried to get the stake back."

"And those are the only times?"

"Yes." Her fingers clutched nervously around the hem of his jacket she was still wearing.

Klaus grabbed her chin between his thumb and index finger, leaning towards her until they were nose to nose. The moonlight showed a hint of amusement in his eyes as he sneered, "What about blood from another vampire?"

Resolutely, with feigned bravado, Addie answered, "I've only ever had Damon's blood."

He roughly let go of her face, turning her head away. He laughed humorlessly as he walked away from her. "You might sound convincing, Addison, but you're a crap liar."

Addie wanted to say that she wasn't lying but he hadn't given her permission to talk. It was possible that he was just trying to trip her up.

"You are forgetting that I know your abilities better than you do," Klaus said smugly as he leaned against a tree. "Care to comment?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said softly, forcing herself to meet his gaze with an icy glare.

"Alright," he smirked, as he unbuttoned his cuffs and rolled up his sleeves. "We can play your way." He stalked towards her with a predatory grin. "Your heart betrays you. It beats fast and irregular when you lie. You can resist compulsion." Addie gave him an incredulous look but didn't say anything. Klaus rolled his eyes in exasperation. "You can speak now."

"You're a pretty intimidating dude. Did you ever just consider that my heart is going berserk because I'm in a cemetery with the scariest person I have ever met? You never compelled me to stay calm!" she bit back, breathing heavily and anxious.

"People naturally become calm when they're compelled."

She shook her head in disbelief. "No, people don't _act_ like they're freaking out when they're compelled. It doesn't actually mean they're not physiologically showing the symptoms." She wasn't sure if that was true but she wasn't going to just roll over and admit she lied.

Klaus's lips pursed. He didn't typically pay attention to the emotional state of the people he compelled. It was possible she was telling the truth. He waved a hand dismissively. "Either way, there is more than one way to check and see if you can be compelled."

Addie sighed heavily, "What are you talking about?"

"You built up a resistance to compulsion by using Damon's blood to heal you. I know the process; he healed injuries that were initially fatal and became increasingly less severe. Eventually you built up a magical tolerance to compulsion."

"Wow," Addie whistled lowly. Shit. "You sound _nuts_. A tolerance to compulsion from drinking vampire blood? That doesn't even make sense."

"Because the existence of vampires does make sense to you?" he snorted.

"No," she admitted quickly, "not in the slightest. However, at least there is a legend behind vampires and the existences of, well, a bunch of them to support the theory that they're real. If someone could build up a tolerance to compulsion, why wouldn't everyone do that?"

A flicker of doubt lit in Klaus. Perhaps he was wrong. More patiently he chastised, "I told you this summer that your problem was not being able to accept reality and needing everything to be neat and rational. Do you remember what I told you about your blood?"

Addie frowned, she didn't want to play his stupid games. Hazily she recalled, "My blood is poisonous to protect me from the vampires Jeremy may bring into my life, which still makes no sense."

"Your brother isn't the concern. It's your relation to your brother that makes your blood different. It's because your blood is different that you can build up a tolerance to compulsion. It's a further defense mechanism," rationalized Klaus.

"So, according to you, I've built up a magical tolerance to compulsion by consuming a bunch of Damon's blood?" she asked skeptically. If she kept playing dumb, perhaps he would buy it.

His smirk was dark and feral. "Well, that's not all you did."

He took a predacious step towards her and Addie moved backwards, stumbling into a tree. This time she was truly confused. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Maybe you can be compelled, maybe you can't. There _is_ another way for me to check besides trying to compel you," he taunted ominously.

Her hand trembled as she ran it through her hair, the curls getting caught around her fingers. "Klaus, this is ridiculous. You said Damon would have to heal severe injuries! He's only ever done that twice! According to your theory I would have to be injured _repeatedly_. Do you really think Damon would allow that? Plus, neither one of us are exactly fond of me drinking so much of his blood that it isn't going to pass from my system before I have to do something. I don't exactly want to turn into a vampire."

Looking up at the sky, Klaus shoved his hands into his pockets and walked away from Addie. She had a very valid point. To build up a resistance she would have had been severely injured several times in a methodical fashion. Damon was so out of his mind in love with her that he never would have been able to hurt Addie and he wouldn't have let anyone else hurt her. However, he wasn't convinced she wasn't still lying to him about being compelled. Though, he didn't know how she would have built up a tolerance if Damon hadn't helped her. It was just so hard to believe that Damon would let her get hurt, even if it was for her benefit in the long run. It ultimately didn't matter. For what he wanted to use Addie for she needed to be able to resist compulsion.

"Let's say for the sake of argument that you still can be compelled."

"Because the idea that I can't be is preposterous," Addie mumbled under her breath.

He wagged a knowing finger at her and smirked, "Unh-uh. You're forgetting I know all about you, Addison. It _is_ possible for you to build up a resistance to compulsion; I've seen it. Really, you can do quite a very special things. The first step into unlocking your full potential, however, is making it so you can resist compulsion."

She eyed the maniacal glint in his eye warily. "Or, you know, we could forgo whatever crazy idea you have and simply let me take some vervain, like I have been."

Klaus grabbed the wrist he had scratched at and sniffed at it again, despite the fact that it had scabbed over. Dropping it back to her side he scoffed, "Let's pretend I believe you. Even then you still haven't taken vervain in days. There's not a trace of it in your system."

"So, sue me," Addie bit back defensively. "I ran out and things have kind of been a little crazy. I _thought_ I could trust the vampires I know to not compel me for a few days but apparently not."

"Apparently not," he winked charismatically. "Go on vervain, stay off vervain; I don't really care. You don't want to simply admit to me that you can resist compulsion so we're going to have to do this the hard way."

There was a loud crunch and then a searing pain blasted through Addie's chest. Instinctively she reached up to clutched over her heart but was blocked by Klaus, who was forearm deep at her sternum. She cried out as there was an agonizing clench and sharp pinch near her heart. His hand retracted with a loud _squelch_ and she crumbled to the dirt floor. Klaus squatted in front of her and peered into her bloodless face. She tried to focus on him as she groaned in anguish but her eyes kept screwing close as she tried to keep the world from spinning.

"I've punctured your superior vena cava. You'll bleed out in four to six minutes," Klaus informed her as he fished her cell phone and keys from his pocket. "What's the passcode for your phone?"

What the hell?! Klaus was mental but he wasn't supposed to actually _hurt_ her. She opened her mouth to retort but all that came out was a whimper of pain. The sobs that overcame her shifted the broken bones in her chest, causing more misery.

"Your birthday? That's so unoriginal," he muttered as he unlocked the phone. He went into her contacts and dialed Damon. When there was no answer he tried three more times as he watched Addie squirm and gasp for breath. It was possible that a bone had punctured a lung. He debated calling again but her movements had slowed and she was alarmingly pale. He dropped the phone by the keys next to her and sighed, "Well, I'm guessing your time is about half up. You know, you can't say I didn't give Damon a chance to save you but he's obviously busy with something much more important. I know if _I_ saw you called four times in a row I would answer; that's the international distress signal. Perhaps I've given him too much credit."

Klaus bit into his wrist and shoved it against Addie's parted lips. Quickly she closed her mouth and feebly used the little strength she had left to try and move away from him. What if Klaus was feeding her his blood to kill her and try to get her to turn?

"Oh, come on, now," he coaxed. "Don't be ridiculous. You can either drink now or you'll drink on instinct once you lose consciousness."

Reluctantly she parted her lips; the bastard was right. Addie tried not to gag as she swallowed the thick, salty liquid. She'd never say Damon's blood tasted _good_ but at least it didn't make her want to puke. Gradually the smarting in her chest eased to a mild discomfort. Shoving his arm away she growled, "Are you out of your fucking mind?"

"No, I'm quite sane. You say you can still be compelled. I need you to be able to resist compulsion. A stepping stone in that process is saving you from almost dying," he shrugged.

"You're insane," Addie whispered terrified, clamoring to her feet.

"Oh, don't be so dramatic," scolded Klaus. Slowly he explained, "I'm going to keep hurting and healing you until you're able to resist compulsion. Or we could just skip all of that and you can admit that you already can."

It was too much. She shook her head as she stormed away from him. "I'm not doing this."

"I'm bigger, stronger, smarter, faster and all around better than you. You don't have a choice," he informed her, easily falling into step next to her.

"Assuming your deluded theory is possible, why do you care if I can resist compulsion?" Addie snapped as she pushed a branch out of her way.

Slowly he answered, "It is a necessary first step in getting what I need from you."

"I never agreed to be your chew toy."

He feigned a laugh, "Ha ha. You know I can't drink your blood. Addison, I'm being _nice_."

"Plunging your hand into my chest is being _nice?!_ " she screeched. An unsettled bird flew from a nearby tree.

"Are you permanently injured?"

"It still hurt!"

"Well, there isn't exactly a non-painful way to almost kill you," Klaus argued reasonably.

She growled in frustration, "What do you even want from me?"

Klaus smirked as he wiped his hand covered in her blood on his pants. "All in good time, Addison."

"No, _Niklaus_ ," Addie spat curtly. "I'm done playing this stupid game with you. Leave. Me. Alone."

"You've been through a lot tonight. Let me at least drive you back to your car," he offered with a charming smile.

" _No!"_

* * *

It was a confirmed fact that curls made it far more difficult to obsessively run your fingers through your hair without tangling it. Addie was glad to wash out the curls Elena had set when she showered off the blood from Klaus tearing into her chest. Curtains of dark red hair shielded Addie's face as she stared into the fire, watching the ruined dress and Klaus' suit jacket burn. She had one leg crossed over the other and her foot bobbed anxiously. Damon wasn't answering his phone. She had walked to the boarding house in hopes that he would be there but he wasn't. She decided to stay there in case he was trying to avoid her. Her nerves were frayed. She wanted Damon; she needed Damon.

Her breath caught as her phone began chiming and vibrating. She exhaled in relief when a playful picture of Damon kissing her on the cheek lit the glowing screen. It took her a second to untangle her fingers from her hair and unwrap herself from the plush throw.

"Hello?" she answered breathlessly.

"Hey. What's up?"

Addie's jaw clenched; there was something weary and wary about Damon's voice. "Where are you?"

"That's, uh, well, I'd rather explain that in person," Damon said tensely. "Where are you?"

"I'm at your house. I've been trying to reach you for hours," she answered, a little more sharply than she intended to.

It was eerie how calm he remain as he replied, "I know. I was dealing with an emergency."

She cut him off before he could continue, "I'm dealing with a crisis of my own and I need _you_!"

"I didn't kn-," Damon stopped himself from finishing that thought. If he pointed out that she never left a message saying that it was an emergency she would just point out that he should have known by her calling him back to back several times and the slew of text messages. "Are you safe?"

When dealing with Klaus safe was a relative term. She could hear the sound of a car starting. "Yes."

"Good. I'm on my way home right now. Do you want me to stay on the phone with you until I get there?"

Addie flinched; she was being one of those desperate, pathetic, needy, clingy girls. _She was fine._ She didn't need to run to Damon every time she got a little rattled. The annoyance at herself painted her tone. "I'm fine. Go drive."

"Alright. I love you."

She hung up the phone and tossed it back on the couch. Since when couldn't she handle a tiny little altercation with Klaus? Yes, he had damage a major vein to her heart and almost killed her but it was only _almost_. She was fine; Klaus still needed her for some greater purpose. Addie took deep breaths, running her fingers through her hair slower, less frantic. Gradually she collected herself.

As abruptly as she heard the door begin to unlock, she could hear and see Damon twisting it back into place. There was a sag to his shoulders. Even from the back he looked drained and defeated.

Standing up and briskly walking towards him she worried, "What's wrong?"

"It's -" he faltered, grinning slightly as he stalked towards her, a sudden shift in his mood.

Leery she asked, "What?"

"I faintly remember you saying were wearing a dress and some very high heels," observed Damon, moving close to her. "I don't think my shirt and boxers count as appropriate attire for a school dance."

Her eyebrows furrowed in mild annoyance and in attempt to soothe the dull ache behind her eyes. She stuck her tongue out at him and retorted, "Honestly, I look better in your clothes."

He gave a hum and decided not to further antagonize her, seeing she was running on fumes. Damon wrapped his arm around her waist, bringing her flush to him. A primal instinct of jealousy made him demand, "I agree. I have no doubt you looked gorgeous for the dance, though. Who else, besides myself, told you that you are an exquisite vision of perfection? I need to know who I should beat up."

"You haven't said that," Addie teased, wrapping her arms around his neck, all memories of Klaus forgotten for the moment.

"You should know that and so much more goes without saying."

"Ah," she nodded in understanding before flashing him a white, toothy grin. "In that case, just you... You look conflicted," Addie noted, observing the pensive look on his face.

"On one hand," Damon sighed, tucking a lock of curled hair behind her ear, "everyone should notice your beauty. On the other, I'm quite selfish and I'm quite glad that I have you all to myself."

"I like having only your attention," she admitted, placing a delicate kiss at the corner of his mouth.

He made a noise of agreement as his fingers tangled in her hair, pulling her in for a proper kiss. Addie generally seemed so strong and independent but when he held her, he could at least convince himself that she was small, fragile and did need him. That reminded him.

Gently cradling her face he coaxed, "Tell me what's wrong, love."

Her gaze shifted away from his nervously; he was going to be furious. "We can wait to talk about that later. I'm more interested in that emergency you were dealing with."

His fingers traced light designs on the small of her back as he took a slow breath, considering her. The soft, supple lower lip was slightly swollen as his thumb brushed over it; she had been biting at it. He wanted to talk about what was bothering her first but the defiance in her eyes said that wasn't happening.

"You're not going to want to stay and talk after I tell you what happened," confessed Damon, determined to get her story.

Her grip around his neck tightened as she stiffened. In a strained, anxious voice she asked, "Is someone else hurt?"

"No, no, no," he reassured her quickly. "Everyone's…"

Unnerved and stepping out of his embrace Addie demanded,"Everyone's what, Damon?"

"I _can't_ fight with you, Ads, not tonight," he whispered, almost pleading as he walked towards the kitchen.

There was a sudden cramp in her stomach. Following him she hesitated, "Why do you think I'm going to fight with you?"

"When do we not fight?" he muttered.

Addie sat on one of the bar-stools at the counter, watching Damon as he moved about the kitchen, pulling out random boxes, jars of ingredients and measuring devices. Apparently he was in a mood to cook. It was a promising sign that it didn't seem like he was trying to add in anything remotely healthy to whatever flour based concoction he was making. He hadn't cooked in a while. While she didn't consider it odd for him to cook her breakfast at an appropriate time of the day, it was a sign of something bothering him when he did it nearing midnight.

"I'll admit that we may fight a lot," Addie conceded, "but I promise not to start a fight tonight if you don't. I really don't think I could handle it, either."

The flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar were all added to a large mixing bowl. He sliced off three tablespoons of butter from a stick and dropped it into a small bowl. The microwave melted it as he echoed her suspiciously, "Why do you think I'm going to fight with you?"

She raised one side of her mouth and desperately wished she could arch a single eyebrow to perfectly imitate his famous, charming grin. "When do we not fight?"

"You know, that is one sexy smirk," Damon teased as he cracked an egg into the bowl with the butter. "Whoever came up with that is a genius."

"He's definitely very intelligent and clever. If we were going to classify him as a genius, though, I'd have to say he's more of a mad genius," Addie thought aloud. She rested her chin in her hand and watched him in fascination. The tension seemed to evaporate as he methodically worked, adding milk and a splash of vanilla to the bowl of liquids.

"Yeah, mad genius is probably a fair classification," agreed Damon, giving her the exact grin they were discussing and a wink for added measure. Addie rolled her eyes at him but he knew the reason she bit her lip was to keep from smiling.

"So, no getting angry?" she asked, tentatively repeating her offer.

"On two conditions," stipulated Damon as he focused on slowly pouring the bowl of liquids in with the dry ingredients and whisking up a smooth batter, " _one)_ you promise to stay and eat these pancakes and _two)_ at some point, not tonight, we have a serious discussion about this fighting stuff. I know we work because we can blow steam off at each other but we shouldn't be afraid of having real, serious conversations because it might lead to a fight."

She tapped at her chin thoughtfully, "That discussion sounds like it will end up in a fight. We're not talking about that tonight, right?"

"No," he answered quickly as he momentarily disappeared behind the island as he ducked down to grab the griddle. He plugged it in and settled it over the stove as he gave her a sincere, reassuring smile. "No fighting tonight,"

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Addie felt a rush of relief; if Damon promised he wasn't going to pick a fight of how she acted with Klaus, then he would honor that promise. The only thing she was still anxious about was what she blindly promised not to argue about. "You go first. My stories better when I'm distracted by pancakes."

Damon gave her a look that clearly communicated he expected her to come up with a better reason as to why he had to talk first. That innocent grin was always what crumbled his resolve, though. He reckoned Addie was only as innocent as she appeared 15 to 20% of the time.

"That makes no sense. You were clearly more distressed than I was, making your story much more important."

"I panicked and overreacted. What was the emergency you had to take care of?" Addie demanded, leaving no room for negotiating.

"You don't overreact."

She snorted, "Have you met me? Spill."

What Addie wanted she almost always got; he hated not being able to tell her no. "You promise we'll discuss what happened to you after I tell you what I was doing?"

"Oh, my god. Yes," she groaned in exasperation.

Damon eyes were trained on the batter as he carefully poured it into a perfect circle on the griddle. Avoiding eye contact, he reluctantly explained, "I get that you panicked when Jeremy asked you about Alaric. And I am so grateful that you thought on your feet and your instincts were to protect me. Unfortunately, Alaric couldn't stay gone on a spirit quest for forever."

"He could have ran out of preservations and gotten lost in the woods," she said in a small voice as he briefly glanced at her between pouring pancakes. It was so nice when he actually cooperated as opposed to going rogue.

He shook his head sadly. "How long do you think it would take before everyone insisted on a manhunt to find him? It would be kind of odd if I wasn't one of the ones who strongly pushed for that. Jeremy and Elena wouldn't give up until remains were found. As since I snapped his neck, we would have to wait for the body to deteriorate long enough for authorities to be unable to tell the cause of death. Our world would be consumed with his death for months."

"And you couldn't handle, er, you would prefer not to have to suffer through that," Addie nodded understandingly. She forced back the mild irritation. Damon had done _something_ serious, impacting all their lives and he hadn't discussed it with her _again_. "What did you do?"

Damon cranked down the heat on the griddle. They would burn at such a high heat if he wasn't paying full attention and he already knew he was going to be distracted. He leaned on his forearms as they rested against the island and sighed, "Everyone deserves closure from this, Ads. Ric's body was still in good condition. I felt everyone should get a chance to say goodbye."

"Funerals don't equate to goodbyes," she snapped sulkily, knowing what he was getting at.

Damon glanced at the pancakes; the batter wasn't bubbling yet. He delicately took Addie's hand resting on the counter and began tracing patterns on it. He wasn't mad; he knew that it was her issues with death making her snap. Addie had never forced herself to go to a funeral. And she had never had the chance to say goodbye to anyone she had loss. It felt wrong to manipulate her into seeing things his way but he wasn't it wasn't exactly manipulation if he was just being open and honest.

"It does for me," Damon confessed quietly. "Ads, my end with Ric wasn't pretty. My friend deserves one last respect from me."

"Alright," Addie nodded. She'd never understand the purpose of looking at a dead body and talking to it and making a big deal about putting it into the ground, where it would purify and become a victim to mold and maggots. But if it was what Damon needed, she would support him. "And, um, how exactly are we going to tell people he's dead? I am _not_ letting them believe you killed him."

"That's what I was taking care of tonight," he said quietly, focusing intensely on perfectly flipping a pancake. "Ric had two injuries; there was a fight to get that damned ring, which resulted in the loss of a finger, and there was the final snapping of his neck. I kind of trashed his apartment to look like a fight to support those injuries. I took his body from the morgue this morning so it would warm to room temperature by tonight."

Remembering her promise not to fight, Addie buried her face in her hands. Her words were muffled as she uttered, "Let me understand. You have a dead Alaric in a wrecked apartment."

"Not quite," he cringed, prodding at the pancakes. "He's back at the morgue."

"What did you do?" she warily repeated.

"Well, good Ric didn't know where evil Ric hid the stake and good Ric wasn't around for me to ask him to tear apart his apartment again because he was off on a spirit quest so I had to go over the apartment and look for it myself. When I went in I found Ric dead and the place a mess," Damon said as he slid the pancakes onto a plate.

To keep him from seeing the frustration on her face, Addie moved to the refrigerator and pulled out the strawberries and whipped cream. By the time she turned back around her expression was neutral again. "At least that's your story?"

"Are you mad?" he questioned softly as he took the objects.

"We're not fighting tonight. I'm just here to support you, Damon."

His lips pursed thoughtfully as he shook the aerosol can she passed to him. "We should try this whole supportive, no fighting thing more often," he decided as he squirted a smiley face of whipped cream on the top pancake.

"Yeah, well, you still haven't heard about my evening. I do have one tiny little issue that I do need to ask about."

"What?" lamented Damon as he place two strawberries as fangs on the pancake.

"Who killed Alaric?"

"Klaus," he answered easily as he carried the pancakes and a bottle of maple syrup over to the table.

Addie gave him a small smile as he helped her into a chair. That smile faltered as she stared down at the smiling pancakes with strawberries as fangs.

Damon moved so that he was sitting right next to her, their shoulders brushing. Holding a fork out to her he sighed, "What's wrong?"

" _Klaus_ is the only person outside of you and me who knows _you_ killed Alaric."

"That's exactly why it works," he said patiently, cutting into the pancakes when she didn't take the fork. On the side of the plate he poured a small amount of syrup. "Who is the most logical person to kill Ric? The hybrid freak who wants the White Oak stake. If Klaus says I killed him because Ric attacked you, we just argue that. You say he never attacked you and would never dream of attacking you. And, I know I've done a lot of awful things, but how many people are going to believe Klaus over me if I say I didn't kill my friend because he didn't provoke me into it? United, we are more believable than Klaus. And the best part is that I didn't even have to suggest Klaus killed Ric. It was _Stefan_ who came up with that. So it definitely doesn't look like I'm covering my own tracks."

Addie groaned and rubbed at her face. What made Damon think it was acceptable to play lone ranger? They were supposed to be partners. They were supposed to be equals. She had that and his twisted ideas of what constituted acceptable ways to protect her to discussion on a night when they could fight.

Dreading the answer she inquired, "How, exactly, is Stefan involved?"

"Well, upon finding Ric dead my natural reaction would be to call Stefan," he explained, dipping a speared piece of pancake in the syrup.

Addie's lips pursed. Stefan would tell Elena. Elena would tell Jeremy. And they would be devastated. Would Jeremy revert to being a delinquent like when their parents had died? Would Elena go back to… well, Elena was always perfect.

"Eat," Damon instructed, tapping the food against her lips. He could see Addie receding into her own dark thoughts.

"You're getting me sticky," Addie mumbled, licking the sweet maple syrup from her lips.

"No," he said swirling the pancake in the pool of syrup until it was sodden. He smeared the molasses over his lips before eating the bite of warm, fluffy deliciousness. Addie was too deep in her mind to be paying attention to him. Smirking, he grabbed her face and planted a loud, smacking kiss on her cheek. "This is getting you sticky."

"Damon!" she squealed, shoving him away. He'd left a gooey, icky, syrup imprint of his lips on her. He laughed as she continued to push at his shoulder, trying to shove him out of his chair. Loudly she whined "That wasn't nice!"

"I'm sorry," he chuckled. "I'll clean up my mess."

Her hand blocked his face as he leaned in, his tongue sticking out. Furious she threatened, "You better mean with a wet washcloth or paper towel because I swear to God, if you lick me, I will take the syrup and pour it all over you."

"Alright, alright," Damon jokingly grumbled as he got up to get a wet paper towel. Addie didn't find his antics nearly as amusing as he did but he had to lighten the mood; he didn't want her getting all beat down over Ric.

"What'd Stefan do?"

He'd hoped to keep her distracted for longer. He knew she was more concerned about her siblings reaction than what Stefan had done. "He told Elena. He left her at the dance to come help me. I didn't exactly need help but I figured I'd play along. We straighten up the apartment after he deduced that it was Klaus who killed Ric. Stefan offered to take Ric to the morgue for me but I said I could manage. He went back to Elena."

"Do you know anything about how-"

"How Elena reacted?" Damon finished, pressing a warm cloth to her cheek and gently rubbing off the syrup. "She insisted on cleaning out Ric's stash of weapons in his classroom before a janitor found it. Stefan's taking care of her."

Addie softly whispered, "And Jer?"

"I don't think anyone's told him yet."

"I should go do that."

Damon tossed the napkin aside and held the fork out to Addie as he reminded her, "You can't. You promised to eat the pancakes."

"Damon, this is serious," Addie sighed heavily.

"I know but you promised to eat the pancakes," he repeated.

She frowned in annoyance. "I think it might be a little bit more important for me to go tell my brother that Alaric is dead."

"Eat the pancakes," insisted Damon.

"I don't want pancakes! I want to make sure my family is ok!" Addie bit back curtly.

He set the fork down. They were close to breaking their promise of not fighting but he understood why she was upset and didn't blame her. Damon's fingers feathered through his hair as he searched for the words. He could try and be delicate but he doubted that would translate for Addie. "I don't think you should be the one to tell Jeremy."

Both her eyebrows rose in indignation as she leaned away from him. "Excuse me?"

Uncomfortably he admitted, "You aren't exactly the most comforting person when it come to bad news, particularly death."

"And just what, exactly, is that supposed to mean?" she challenged.

"Elena was given an overload of the empathy gene while you received twice the recommended dosage of sensibility," Damon shrugged. He used the fork to cut off another piece of the pancake.

"What the hell does Elena have to do with anything?" she hissed furiously. "Is she somehow better than I am because I actually think with my head and not my heart? Am I supposed to put on some great mask of grief and-"

"You're starting a tirade that's going to have no foundation but your insecurities and I'm not going to allow that," Damon said definitively, cutting her off. The sudden chill in her piercing gaze told him she was about to start in on exactly what he was _allowed_ to tell her to do. He wasn't interested in having a power struggle, at least not a verbal one. He quickly continued, "No one is saying that you should be fake or need to drown yourself in a never ending river of tears over Ric's death. Just, most people are going to take the matter a bit more sensitively and aren't going to be as detached and objective as you."

Addie scoffed incredulously, "I'm hardly objective! I'm basically ignoring the fact that _you_ killed Ric because you thought that you were -." Stopping short, she shook her head. She wasn't going to think about the _why_ behind Damon's actions. Damon killed Alaric because Klaus baited him. It was easier to accept his actions if she could lay the blame at someone else's feet. If Damon had done something to protect her she was no better than Elena. Jenna and John and her parents had all died because it was for Elena's benefit or they were doing something for her sister. Resoloutely she said, "Jeremy deserves to know. It's not fair to keep him in the dark."

"I'm not saying no one should tell him."

"No, you're simply saying that I shouldn't be the one to do it because I'm not sensitive enough," Addie retorted bitterly.

Damon fought a wry smile. How easily she could be provoked proved just how sensitive she was. Not wanting to fight, he redirected the conversation. "You promised you'd tell me what happened to you after I told you what I was up to."

Addie shifted uncomfortably as the queasy, uneasy feeling returned full force. She'd almost forgotten her encounter with Klaus. "You're trying to change the subject."

"Yes, I am. You promised, though," Damon reminded, gently taking her hand.

She pulled her hand back as she mumbled, "That's before I knew what you were doing. I was overreacting and being dramatic. Nothing happened."

Shaking his head he firmly said, "You don't get to do that. I already warned you that you weren't going to want to talk after I told you what was going on and you promised you would tell me. You can't just change your mind because you're mad at me."

"I'm not mad at you," she muttered sulkily.

"Prove it. Quit pouting and spill," he challenged.

"I'm not pouting," mumbled Addie as she crossed her arms.

Damon snorted, "You might want to tell that to your face and voice. What happened?"

Addie chewed at her lip nervously. The only good thing was that Damon didn't have any way to kill Klaus so he couldn't form any stupid ideas of retaliation and risk Klaus killing him in his attempt or dying in the off chance Klaus actually sired Damon's bloodline. "So, I have good news."

"Yeah?" he asked, arching an eyebrow at her.

She took a bite of the pancakes to stall and nodded. "Yeah. Klaus said he's leaving town soon."

Sharply Damon demanded, "When did you talk to Klaus?"

"He was at the dance," Addie answered slowly. Placatingly she added, "It wasn't like I wanted to talk to him. He just kind of showed up there and I couldn't really avoid him."

"What did he want?" he grounded out through gritted teeth.

"Well, you know how Klaus wants to use me for some unknown reason in the future?" she drew out slowly.

Damon gave a terse hum of acknowledgement.

Leaning back in the chair Addie ran her fingers through her hair and sighed heavily, "It turns out that Klaus knows I can be made to resist compulsion and I need to be able to do that for whatever he wants."

"Does he know you can already resist compulsion?" growled Damon. His chair gave a deafening screech as he pushed away from the table.

"I-"

He held up a finger, indicating for her to stop and left the room. Shortly he returned with a tumbler and a decanter of amber liquid. If they weren't going to get into a fight, he'd need a drink. When he was settled on the bar-stool Addie had been sitting on earlier with a glass of bourbon, he motioned for her to continue.

"I don't know if he knows," she admitted, exhaling slowly.

Damon closed his eyes and reminded himself not to snap at her. "How do you not know?"

Addie cringed and groaned, "Well, uh, remember how we promised we weren't going to fight?"

"What happened, Addie?"

"So, Klaus kind of grabbed my wrist, scratched it open, didn't smell vervain and then compelled me to tell him the truth about the location of the stake. Obviously, I don't know. He asked me if you knew. Again, you don't. Then he told me to follow him. Well, we agreed that it was best if nobody found out that I couldn't be compelled so I kind of had to follow him. He took me out to the cemetery; I guess because it's remote. He started questioning me about how many times you heal me and whether or not I could be compelled. I told him that I could be and that he was nuts but I'm not sure if he believed me. He decided to take matters into his own hands," Addie rushed out in a single breath.

Damon drained what was left in his glass and poured a second helping, which he finished as well. Lowly he growled, "What do you mean 'he took matters into his own hands?'"

"Apparently Klaus knows the injure/heal process that's used to build up resistance," she mumbled. Guiltily she shoved a giant bite of pancake into her mouth.

"What happened?" he snarled, slamming his glass down.

Addie didn't look up from her plate as she quickly murmured, "He punctured my superior vena cava."

Damon jumped to his feet and barked, "What?"

"He healed me," she pointed out in a small voice. Telling him that Klaus had called him right after he had injured her wouldn't change things. If anything, it would just make Damon mad at himself for not answering his phone.

" _He almost killed you!_ "

"Yeah but he still needs me for some reason so he didn't _actually_ kill me. I'm fine."

"No! You are most certainly not fine! I don't care if Klaus healed you; I care that he hurt you," yelled Damon.

"I'm not hur-"

"Addie, I _killed_ Ric and he didn't hurt you nearly as bad as Klaus did. Do y-"

She held up her hand, abruptly cutting him off. "You can't kill Klaus. Not only do you not know _how_ to kill Klaus, he will kill _you_ before you get a chance to kill him _and_ he says he's the one who sired your bloodline, which means you still die!"

Damon turned away from her and braced his hands on the island as he scowled. He already knew Addie wouldn't support his attempt to kill Klaus; that was why she hadn't told him when she had found the last White Oak stake. While her support would be appreciated, it wasn't necessary. He didn't doubt that he could successfully kill Klaus in his quest to protect Addie. The possibility that Klaus started his bloodline was an idea that had flitted across his mind a few times but he had come to accept that. Klaus was up to no good with Addie. His eventual plans could possibly involve killing her. He had already seriously injured her. Damon was willing to lay down his life it meant protecting the girl he loved. He was even willing to risk Stefan dying if Klaus had sired their line.

"I know I can't kill him," lied Damon. "That doesn't mean I have to be ok with him hurting you. What was the point of making you able to resist compulsion if not to protect you from situations exactly like this?"

"We agreed that no one should know that!" Addie exclaimed.

"Yeah, we shouldn't go broadcasting it but that doesn't mean you obey every command of a madman!" he bit back.

"Ok, well, next time I'll just tell Klaus to try something that I couldn't possibly do unless I was compelled," she shrugged helplessly.

"Next time?" Damon scoffed. " _Hell no._ There isn't going to be a next time. You're not going to be left alone with him again."

Taking her plate to the sink Addie declared, "This is ridiculous. I am _not_ arguing with you over Klaus. We said we weren't going to fight."

"You're right," agreed Damon. "Look, let me clean up white you head up to bed."

She giggled as she opened the dishwasher, "You're sticking the dishes in here; it's not exactly like you're cleaning up. I really don't mind helping."

He grabbed her shoulders and turned her towards the exits. "I appreciate it but I've got it. Now get."

"Fine, fine," she grumbled, walking away. Over her shoulder she asked hopefully, "You'll be up soon?"

"Five minutes," Damon promised as he gathered up the bowls and utensils he had used to make the pancakes. He gave her an encouraging smile, only turning away when she was out of the room.

His mind drifted to the White Oak stake stashed inside of his trunk. He hadn't given much consideration to when he was going to make a move against Klaus but that had been bumped up to his number one priority. Tomorrow he would slay the Original bastard. Klaus had hurt _his Ads._ He would not allow that to happen again.

Not only had Klaus hurt her, he had healed her with his blood; that did not settle well with Damon. God forbid something terrible happen to Addie and she died. She would be forced with making the choice of transition. If she chose to go through with it, it would be Klaus' blood that changed her and he would never be able to kill Klaus. Mostly, though, he didn't like the idea of anyone else's blood inside of her. He could possibly fix that, though.

* * *

 **A/N: We're almost done! One chapter left! Hip-hip-hooray! What do you guys want to see before we wrap up? As of right now I don't believe I will be doing Resist.**

 **Thank you guys for all your love and support and comments!**


	28. Chapter 27

Addie felt a cool pressure against her lips as the familiar scent of cloves, ginger, and sandalwood filled her nose. Her eyes slowly fluttered open to find Damon's sky blue eyes staring into her own. He gently held her chin and softly kissed her again.

"Good morning," she greeted slowly.

Damon chuckled, "Good morning."

"You seem to be in a better mood," grinned Addie as she cupped his cheek. His stubble tickled at her palm.

He really wasn't but he wasn't going to ruin what could possibly be his last moments with her, no matter how slim those chances were. "Last night was a little overwhelming," he shrugged.

"Last night!" Addie paled and scrambled away from him, looking for her cellphone on the nightstand.

"Hey, hey, hey," Damon said soothingly, pulling her back towards him. "Jeremy and Elena are holding up ok. They decided to paint Ric's room in the middle of the night."

"That sounds healthy," she quipped sardonically.

"Healthier than a lot of alternatives." From his nightstand he grabbed a black mug, a stream of steam curling above it.

She gave him a grateful smile as he passed her the cup of coffee. "I suppose. How do you know what they did?"

He pointed to the sound machine on the dresser before grabbing the second mug and Addie registered the sound of crashing waves that hadn't been playing when they had gone to sleep. Stefan must have come home at some point and told him.

Damon downed his piping hot beverage in two swallows, It always made Addie winced in the imagined pained whenever he did that but he insisted he didn't scald his mouth and throat.

Watching Addie blow at her coffee he wondered, "Are you hungry? Do you want me to make breakfast?"

"No, thank you," she answered softly.

"You should really eat."

She gave him a stern, disapproving look. They had discussed Damon's obsession with trying to feed her, particularly healthy food, on several occasions. She was a big girl who had managed 15 years without him. "I'm really not hungry but I appreciate the offer."

Addie gave a soft cry of pain when she finally dared to take a sip of the coffee.

"What's wrong?" Damon quickly asked in concern.

The word "hot" came out garbled as she set the coffee down and rushed to the bathroom. She turned the tap on and swished cool, soothing water around her burned mouth.

"Sorry. Guess I should have waited a little longer before waking you up."

"It wasn't your fault. I think I've had enough coffee for today, though."

Damon rolled onto his back and tucked a hand under his head as he watched Addie at the sink. She repeated the exact same process in the exact same order every morning and night. Wet the toothbrush, cover end to end with paste, wet brush again, brush tongue, divide mouth into six sections, divide each section into three areas, brush each area in a circular motion on a slight angle from left to right eleven times. He didn't remember the exact order she had to brush the different areas and sections but he knew she had to start the process all over if she made a mistake. It was just another little quirk about her that he loved. As she wet her toothbrush a second time he off-handedly commented, "I'm really proud of us for not fighting last night."

"Yeah, well," she grumbled around a mouthful of toothpaste when she was halfway through brushing her teeth. It would have been pointless to start a fight with Damon over his telling everyone that Alaric was dead. No matter what she said, it wasn't like he could take the words back and make everything alright again. Finished with her process, Addie spit out the flavored foam and rinsed her mouth out with water. Her words came out muffled as she wiped her face on the hand towel. "I should get home and check on Elena and Jeremy."

"You really think they're going to get into that much trouble with a couple of paintbrushes and some paint?" muttered Damon, trying to keep the mild irritation from his voice. It didn't bother him that she was concerned about her siblings but that she was avoiding him because he could tell she was still upset with him.

Addie crossed her arms as she leaned against the bathroom doorframe, leering at Damon through narrowed eyes. Smartly she retorted, "It's quite possible."

Logically he countered, "Jeremy is an artist and Elena's a neat freak; it's really very unlikely."

"Still," she sighed, slightly uncomfortably, "they just found out some very upsetting news and we should be together as a family."

"I'm not trying to start a fight," Damon quickly prefaced, "but isn't that a very un-Addie-like response and a cause for suspicion? When people die you get angry and isolate."

"You're the one who told me that wasn't a healthy reaction," Addie muttered, giving a slightly defensive shrug. Sternly she blurted, "Look, I can see that you're trying to get me to stay, which is alarming since you said you wanted space. What are you up to?"

It was extraordinarily unlikely that he was going to die when he went to kill Klaus later. His love and devotion for Addie would protect him in a fight. The only risk to his life was the slight possibility that came with Klaus having potentially sired his bloodline. If he did only have a matter of hours left he wasn't going to spend them fighting with the girl he loved and was trying to protect.

"There's a funeral for Ric in a few hours."

"That's - didn't you just _find_ ," she used air quotes around the word, "his body last night? How do you even arrange that?"

"It's what I discussed with Stefan before coming up to bed. He took care of compelling all the gravediggers and everything last night and this morning."

"Because there's a 24-hour coffin store or you keep one in the basement because that's where you really sleep when I don't spend the night?" Addie quipped sarcastically.

Damon's lips pressed into a thin line. Vampire jokes? And she wondered why he believed it best she wasn't the one to inform Jeremy about Ric's death. "I have to pick one up before the funeral."

"Oh. Is it wise to have a funeral so soon?" she asked, shifting uncomfortable.

"It was your brother's idea and your sister agreed to it. I think they are the most qualified in making that assessment. Unless you're not ready for it?" he questioned. A guilty part of him hoped that she wasn't, hoped that she showed signs of grieving normally.

"I don't really care," Addie dismissed quickly as she moved to his closet. "What are you wearing?"

"Black." Of course she couldn't handle things like a normal person. Though, if she did, she wouldn't still be dating him.

From the back of his closet she called out, "That qualifies almost everything in here. I'm assuming you mean a suit. I'm thinking a three piece; it's cold enough out."

"I don't get cold. And what do you know of fashion?"

"I pretend to listen to Caroline every now and then. It doesn't hurt for you to keep up appearances," Addie muttered as she intently shuffle through his suits. She selected a simple black single-breasted Armani with a classic, slim-fit cut. "You have eleven plain black ties," she recalled off the top of her head as she selected a silk one. "Nobody needs that many of the same tie."

As she hung the outfit on the back of the door he pointed out, "They're different fabrics and widths."

"There's still no logical need; you just have a fashion obsession."

He couldn't argue with that. "You have more plaid than a backwoods hillbilly and more Converse than a 80s grunge groupie."

"Yes and I can proudly admit to that. Who's going to the funeral?"

Damon shrugged. "The usual people, I guess. It's not like we took an add out in the paper."

"Is everyone - are Elena and Jeremy expecting me to go?" she asked softly, running her hand anxiously through her hair.

"You haven't been to the funerals of anyone in you family. I don't think anyone is expecting you to go."

Addie bit her lip and fidgeted with the hem of his soft shirt she wore. "Do you want me to go?"

"Do you want to go?" he said, taken aback by the question.

"I will go if you want me to go for moral support or whatever," she explained as she laid back down next to him.

Damon grinned slightly as he stretched out his arm and Addie's head rested on his shoulder, her arm slung across his lower stomach. "I appreciate that, love; I really do. I know how hard that would be for you. I will be fine, though."

"It wouldn't be hard. I just find funerals stupid and pointless. I mean, how does sticking someone's body in the ground to rot give you a sense of closure? How is looking at a dead body anything but traumatizing? It's one of the stupidest concepts in our culture," she vented sulkily.

He snorted derisively, "Yeah, your moral support would be very encouraging."

Addie's brow furrowed as a concerning thought came to her. "Is that why you haven't wanted me around?"

"I don't want to argue with you, Ads," Damon drawled out steadily.

"Not everything has to be a fight," she protested sensibly. "We got through last night just fine when I was certain you were going to spontaneously combust."

He scoffed humorlessly, "I may or may not have had a small aneurysm."

"But we didn't fight and that is the important part. Have a little faith in me." When Damon didn't respond she began to pull away and threatened, "Tell me how you can want me around and want space or I'm leaving." It bothered her how he could seem so mercurial, wanting her around the previous night and that morning but saying he needed space before that.

"Alright, alright, alright," Damon sighed, gently pushing at her shoulder until she settled against him again. "I miss you when you're not around. Part of me wishes I could spend all my time with you."

"And the other part?" Addie prodded when it was clear he wasn't going to continue.

"Look, after Ric, I just need some time to myself; I need to spend some time with my own thoughts. However, I also realized I need time with you to keep in perspective what is most important to me," he explained. It was close enough to the truth. He didn't need to tell her that he wanted to be around her just in case it was his last few hours. She didn't need to know that he needed space because he didn't like having to act as if he was handling Ric's death in an appropriate manner in front of her when he preferred to drown himself in alcohol. "Plus I'm feeling very overprotective considering what happened last night and don't really know how comfortable I feel with letting you out of my sight."

Sensing that wasn't the whole truth Addie rested her chin on his shoulder and studied his face critically. "Good enough," she decided. They both had a difficult time when it came to expressing how they really felt. If he was that reluctant to tell her the whole truth, it was something deeply personal that he simply wasn't ready to share.

Damon arched an eyebrow in surprise. "Really?"

"I'm not looking to fight with you, either" she answered simply, referencing the statement he had made earlier. "Actually, I'm also proud of us, particularly you, for not fighting last night."

His lips fought against a scowl; he didn't care for the way she emphasized his role. "It's like I said," he began poking her on the nose with each word to accentuate his point, "I don't want to fight with you."

"Ok," Addie huffed impatiently, swatting his hand away. "What's going on? Since when do you _not_ want to fight? Like you said last night, we fight all the time. It's how we function."

"No, it's not. We bicker over stuff that doesn't really matter. I don't mind that. It's actually why we work. The only time we actually fight is when it comes to Klaus. That's when there is the idea of a winner and a loser and that's not ok. He isn't worth our time."

"We don't fight about Klaus."

"Yes, we do."

Addie shook her head and resolutely declared, "No, we don't."

"So, why are you proud of us for not fighting last night?" challenged Damon.

"Well, I'm proud of _you_ for not losing your cool and turning into a raging nutcase because Klaus hurt me."

"No, no, no, no. I'd be in a perfectly justifiable rage," he quickly corrected. "Some freak rammed his hand into my girlfriend's chest, breaking bones, clutched her heart and punctured it in an attempt to kill her!"

"Hey," Addie said soothingly, resting her forehead against his. "It's ok. I'm fine. If Klaus wanted me dead he would have killed me."

Damon quickly rolled them until Addie was on her back and buried his face in the crook of her neck. The familiar, heady scent of cucumber melon bathed his senses. The situation was not ok; she was so far from fine. Not only should she have nothing to do with Klaus, she should be terrified of him. He wished she would be as concerned about her own safety as he was.

Thinking of her safety reminded him that she still had Klaus' blood in her system. Based on how badly he had injured her, there was a lot of his blood. If the worst should happen and she should die he didn't want her to have to choose to transition with that bastard's blood. It wasn't even really a choice; it was a death sentence. At least if it was his blood she _might_ decided to to become a vampire, despite how set she was on not becoming a vampire. Facing with the reality of death was terrifying and could easily cause her to change her mind. But she wouldn't drink his blood for no reason.

"The fact that you can say it's ok shows just how unaware of the potential consequences you are. I don't know what I would do if something happened to you," Damon murmured, his voice rough and gravely. Addie shivered as his breath, warmed from the coffee, flowed over her neck.

Addie took his face in her hands as she met his fiery eyes with dilated pupils. She brushed her lips over his in a seductive stroke.

"I promise you will never have to find out what that's like," she swore softly.

"Good," he acknowledged firmly.

He took the mouth she offered him exactly how he wanted; with an impatience, heat, and hunger all mixed together in a near brutal assault. He let the taste of cinnamon toothpaste and something distinctly Addie slide over his tongue as he would a fine wine. There was no more hiding from the truth; she had almost died. He had almost lost her. And now he was going to kiss her as if he would never get another chance, because there was the slight possibility he wouldn't. Her body quivered once in surprise, in defense, in response. Then her fingers raked through his luscious locks, fisting them.

She wanted more of this edge, this recklessness, even the reluctant need. The last time they had properly kissed was the day Damon had killed Alaric. Since then it was a quick peck on a the cheek here and a chaste brush of the lips there. As he toyed with her mouth her head went spinning and her body churned.

Reluctantly Damon drew away, ordering, "Look at me."

Addie felt her cheeks warm with blood as she met his heated, piercing gaze. She scraped her bottom lip with her teeth bashfully and watched his eyes lower to follow the movement. "What was that for?"

She had to know how he felt, just in case things went wrong.

"I realized that I haven't taken the time lately to tell you just how much I love you. I need you to remember that I will always love you. You can push me away, and you definitely do try, but I will never stop loving you. When I think of my past nothing can compare with how my life turned out with you in it. You've taught me the freedom of love. You taught me what it means to be love. You don't love me _inspite_ of who I am. You love me _because_ of who I am and I could never ask for anything more. I'm so blessed and lucky that you're mine and, better yet, I'm yours. You-"

A single finger against his lips silenced him. Despite her best efforts the corners of her mouth twitched furiously as she fought against giggling.

"Is there a particular reason you sound like a Hallmark greeting card?" Addie inquired innocently.

Damon gaped in mock affront. "Well excuse me for professing my love for you. I'll just keep my feelings to myself from now on."

"No, no. You're allowed to profess your love," she reassured him quickly, "but being mushy, gushy doesn't really suit us."

"It doesn't suit us?" he challenged with an arched eyebrow. Dramatically he drawled, " _Bullshit._ You just get uncomfortable hearing the truth."

He wasn't wrong. She smirked suggestively at him, "I'd rather you just show me."

Damon resisted when she tugged at the back of his neck and looked at her smugly. He shook his head and pretended to pout. "Now I think you think I'm just a piece of meat."

"Yes, obviously," Addie replied sarcastically as she rolled her eyes. "Have you looked in a mirror?"

He nodded. "Oh, yes. I'm very aware of my amazing good looks. That only further proves my idea."

She gave a huff of mild annoyance, "Damon, I don't give a damn about how you look. In fact, wasn't I, like, the only person immune to your charms?"

"They have yet to work on Bonnie," he pointed out. Addie scowled; she didn't particularly like that smartass tone when she wasn't the one using it.

"You ripped out her throat because a crazy ancestor possessed her and made her destroy a rock that you wanted to use to unleash a tomb of vampires on an innocent town. That's just number one on a long lists of reasons why your _charms_ ," she placed air quotes around the word, "will never work on Bonnie Bennett. Every other girl in town is fair game. And every other girl has, at one point or another, fallen victim to your looks and charm, except me. _You_ just said I love you because of who you are," Addie argued logically.

"Yeah," Damon agreed reluctantly, signing heavily, "but I had to say it."

"Oh, my God," Addie mumbled under her breath to herself. He knew how she felt; he was just going to make this painful.

"I think I need that gooey feeling you can only get from an epic confession of love before kissing you some more," he said thoughtfully.

"Ah, well, isn't it convenient that I don't feel like kissing you anymore?" she retorted smartly.

He gently grabbed her hands that were lightly pushing at his shoulders and chuckled, "Come on. Tell me you love me."

"I hate you."

"No you don't. You love me," he confidently corrected her.

"True."

"You're just afraid to express your feelings because you find it a little difficult to handle your emotions."

Indignantly Addie gaped, "Pot. Kettle. Black."

"Yes but I've said how I feel," pointed out Damon. "Actually, you cut me off."

Focusing on a spot over his shoulder she said somberly, "Fine. There are times when you upset me and cause me unwanted anger. There are unwise decisions that you make that disappoint me. There are actions you take that cause me to worry about you. There are times you make me laugh and times you make me cry. There are so many struggles, arguments, and challenges we must endure together. I know that none of those things will ever change. Our relationship will never be simple and easy because we're both too damn stubborn and hardheaded and emotionally stunted and simply insane. We are pure friction, like two pieces of sandpaper rubbing together."

"This is all _so_ encouraging," he muttered sarcastically. "I'm just gonna keep my mouth shut from now on."

"I haven't gotten to my point yet but you'll do well to keep quiet for future reference," Addie scolded lightly before she continued. "But as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, no matter what, I will always love you. You make me feel important, which is a really big deal considering my inferiority complex, particularly when it comes to my sister. You look at me as if I'm the only girl in the world. You've shown me how to live, which is ironic considering you're technically dead. You've taught me how to smile, even on the darkest of days. You've given me the courage to retake control of my life. Most importantly, you've shown me that true unconditional love is possible. You will always and forever be in my heart."

"Those are some excellent points," Damon teased.

Her cheeks turned cherry red as she bossily told him, "Stop grinning like a loon. Shut up and kiss me."

"Yes ma'am," he obliged in a Southern accent. Against her mouth he whispered, "I love you, Addison Gilbert."

Before closing the distance she whispered back, "I love you, Damon Salvatore."

The kiss didn't have the same eager desperation as the one before. His mouth was warm and firm as he took from her with an endless, devastating patience. Her lips turned into a slight smile at the faint flavor of mint hidden under bitter coffee; she hadn't noticed before as her own fresh breath had been so strong. It was so weird that he brushed his teeth before his coffee.

Damon broke away slightly and suspiciously asked, "Why are you grinning?"

"I'm happy," she answered, quickly pulling him back.

Again she smile at the hint of mint. Addie typically detested the taste of mint; it was why she used cinnamon flavored toothpaste. The only time she went near mint was when she was kissing Damon. She never told him she hated the taste of his toothpaste. He would use Crest Whitening until it was discontinued. Though, he would probably stop if he knew she didn't like it. The mint and coffee, mixed with something that she could only describe as Damon, a taste that had grown to be comforting and familiar.

Addie allowed him to roll her to her back, deepening the angle of the kiss. He placed a featherlight kiss to the corner of her mouth and tried to tilt her chin up to allow him better access to her neck but she resisted him, pulling him back in for a kiss. Damon gently nipped and tugged at her lower lip until he felt her become completely pliant and relaxed under his hands that confidently moved down the contours of her body. He again moved for her neck but her fisst tightened in his hair, holding him in place. Damon groaned impatiently.

Breaking away Addie gave him a tight lipped smile. "I just want to do some boring, lazy kissing. Nothing more, ok?"

"Ok. I'm sorry."

She stiffened; she didn't need the negative feeling she could only describe as misty gray generating from him to tell her that he was lying. His tense voice betrayed his sincerity.

"No, it's not ok," she accused. "What's going on? It's never mattered to you before if we took things slow."

Damon sighed heavily as he flopped onto the bed. Through gritted teeth he growled out, "You have Klaus' blood inside you."

Her lips pursed as she tried to reason his attitude. "And you're jealous? Damon, that means _nothing_. It's not like I wanted to drink his blood. It was kind of a situation where I didn't have any other options. I still don't get what that has to do with making out, though."

"I understand why you did it and that's why I'm not jealous. That doesn't mean I'm comfortable with the idea or situation. I figured if, well, if I left a couple of marks that needed healing then you would have to drink my blood and then I wouldn't be as bothered by it. My blood in you is one thing; Klaus' is another," he explained, realizing how petty it sounded when he said it outloud.

Addie threw an arm across her face so Damon couldn't see her eyes roll. His jealousy could seriously impair his brain functioning. Knowingly she said, "It's impossible for you to leave hickeys if I have vampire/hybrid blood in my system. The rapid healing properties are at work. It's like when Jeremy tried to kill himself by taking a buttload of pills after drinking Anna's blood. Her blood reversed the effects."

Damon didn't respond as he stared up at the ceiling. Obviously she was right. He wasn't sure how he missed that.

"If you wanted me to drink you blood, you should have just asked me to," she said after a stretch of silence.

"Because you wouldn't do that without a valid reason."

"The fact that Klaus' blood is in me bothers you this much is a valid enough reason."

* * *

"Brother," Damon greeted cheerily, clapping Stefan on the shoulder as he entered the study. He was in a much better mood after Addie had taken some of his blood. "How would you like to be my co-conspirator in my master revenge scheme?"

Looking up from his book Stefan eyed Damon warily; his master schemes typically meant trouble. "What are you up to?"

"It's Operation Neutralize Klaus," he said, using hand gestures to emphasize his title.

"What?"

"See, we've been going about this all wrong," Damon said as he poured himself a drink. "We've been trying to kill Klaus but he's like a damn cockroach and could survive biological warfare."

"Actually the saying is that they can survive a nuclear explosion," interjected Stefan.

Damon waved his drink through the air, as if brushing away his brother's words. "Don't really care. The point is the bastard can't be killed."

"Just last night you went to Alaric's to look for the White Oak stake to kill Klaus with," Stefan pointed out.

"I have had an epiphany since then," Damon replied slowly. The stake was actually in a safe in the trunk of his car. He still planned on using it. "Besides, if we kill him, we have have a one in four chance of dying. The solution is to neutralize him. Desiccate him."

Stefan frowned broodily. "You're forgetting that the daggers don't work on him. Also, I doubt Klaus is going to just stop feeding if we ask really, really nicely."

"Oh, Stefan," his brother laughed dryly at his attempt at humor. "Are your emotions all the way back on and you think playing nice was ever an option? We've had the solution the whole time. We just haven't been thinking," Damon said, tapping at his head.

"And you've suddenly realized the solution?"

"Yes!" he exclaimed. "When some Hybrid freak rams his hand into your girlfriend's chest and damages her heart and then uses his disgusting mutt blood to heal her you become slightly motivated to take immediate action."

"Klaus did what? Why would he hurt her if he was just going to heal her?" Stefan asked dumbfounded.

"You know," he had started to pace the room in a fit of agitation and excitement, "I don't really care _why_. I just know that this guy has had some sick, twisted obsession with my girlfriend since… he gave Addie that scholarship to London! He blackmailed her into spending the rest of her summer on your little cross country road trip. I don't know exactly how long he's been a psycho stalker but I'm not going to tolerate it anymore. Addie _always_ ruins my plans to defeat him. She associates with the bastard. I don't know why but it's like she's trying to give me a fucking heart attack. They're like that damn cat and mouse cartoon-"

"It's called _Tom and Jerry_ ," interrupted Stefan. He knew Damon had been acting too calmly the previous night; he was a highly combustible ball of rage. Klaus hurting Addie was just the spark that set off the explosion.

"Don't care because _this_ isn't a TV show! He's going to be the cat that at the mouse because the mouse was reckless."

"I'm gonna tell Addie you called her a mouse," Stefan said, going back to his book. Damon was past the point of making sense. "Actually, have you talked to Addie about your little plan? How does she feel about it?"

Damon briefly hesitated in his pacing before continuing his long, purposeful strides around the room. He'd done worse than compare Addie to a genius, reckless, fictional cartoon character; she would get over it. "No, as I said, she has a tendency to ruin my plans."

"Then shouldn't you not be discussing a plan you don't want her to know about while she's still in the house?" his brother asked as if the answer were obvious.

"She's in the shower; she's not going to overhear."

"And when do you plan on doing this?"

"After Ric's funeral."

"You go ahead and have fun with that," Stefan responded disinterestedly as he licked his finger and flipped a page in the book.

"If Klaus it out of the way then we don't have to worry about him trying to use Elena to make more hybrids." Stefan's eyes stopped scanning the pages. "I can't get rid of Klaus without you, brother."

Stefan's eyes closed briefly in exasperation. They always seemed to go down this road and Klaus always somehow won. "How do you plan on desiccating him?"

"Magic. We use the same spell that made Mikael shrivel up like a prune. Then we dump his body in the middle of the Atlantic," Damon answered as breezily as if he were giving the time.

"Brilliant idea except we don't have the spell."

"No but Mommy Bennett does," he smirked.

"Except she's no longer a witch because you turned her into a vampire."

"To save our girlfriends," Damon reminded him justifiably. "Beside, Baby Bennett is still a witch."

Stefan brow furrowed in thought. "Let's say Bonnie can do the spell, why do you need my help?"

"I doubt it's going to be something simple. I'm likely going to need some additional muscle power."

* * *

"What the hell happened?" Addie demanded as soon as she walked in the door. She had missed Jeremy's initial call because she was showering and by the time she had gotten around to calling him back, he was already taking Elena home from the hospital.

"Nothing," Elena emphasized. She was laid out on the couch with a blanket wrapped around her. There was a cup of tea on the coffee table. It didn't look like she was enjoying being fussed over for once.

"Not true," Jeremy quickly objected from a chair. "I already told you how I found her."

Addie's lips pursed as she sat next to Elena's feet. Concerned, she asked, "Do you remember what happened?"

"I fell off the ladder painting. My blood sugar was just low; I didn't eat at all yesterday. I'm fine. It's just a mild concussion," Elena reassured her little sister.

Addie looked to her brother for confirmation and he nodded. "She should be fine."

"Do we need to keep her at home for a couple of days or keep an eye on her or anything like that?"

"Uh, hello. I'm sitting right here," scowled Elena, waving her hand infront of Addie's face.

"Dr. Fell said you need to take it easy for a couple of days and to make sure you eat. We can't - something can't happen to you, too," Jeremy finished softly.

Elena gave him a weak smile. "I promise I'll take better care of myself."

"Good. Addie, you mind stay with her with I go work on painting the room?"

"Again, sitting right here. And I don't need my little brother or sister to babysit me," Elena protested indignantly.

Addie exchanged a look with her brother that said she would keep an eye on Elena and he left the room. Once she could no longer hear his footsteps on the stairs she asked, "How is he holding up?"

Elena frowned slightly. "He's angry. He's not happy about vampires. I think he feels like they're the reason why Ric died. He went off on Stefan when he was over this morning and told him he just wanted one day with no vampires in it."

"It probably wouldn't change his mind if I pointed out that Klaus was technically a hybrid," Addie said, tsking in disappoint. "Plus, how does that work if there are going to be vampires at Alaric's funeral?"

"I doubt it would change anything. I think he was just lashing out in anger. How is Damon doing?"

"Damon?" Addie repeated, slightly taken aback. Wasn't Elena interested in Stefan again? She'd thought she'd solved that problem.

Damon was doing abnormally well considering he had murdered his best friend, in her opinion. She had to question his sanity in doing it, though, she liked to chalk it up to Klaus driving him to be irrationally protective. That made it concerning that he hadn't had more of a freak out when she'd told him Klaus had hurt her. But that had nothing to do with Elena's question. Damon wanted a little space while he dealt with his feelings about the situation but he didn't seem to be doing anything destructive during that time. Overall, he seemed more detach than Addie would have expected.

"Damon is… well, he's Damon. He hasn't killed anyone, so that's always a good sign." Addie sighed as she ran her fingers through her hair and softly whispered to herself, "It's like he wants to act like nothing's wrong."

"Sometimes that's the easiest way for people to move on. It doesn't always help to dwell on things we can't change."

"Is that what you're doing?"

Elena took a loud, long breath. "It's not that simple. It's my fault he's dead. He wanted to walk away from this life after Aunt Jenna but I was the one who gave him back his ring and asked him to stay."

Damon hadn't killed Alaric to protect her. Addie scoffed humorlessly, "You know, I would really like to believe that but out of everyone who's died, Alaric is the person you are the least responsible for. Alaric's death is all on Klaus and his stupid obsession with immortality."

"Wow, Addie. That's almost… nice and rational of you," Elena said in surprise.

Addie choice to ignore the thinly veiled insult; she was always rational. "Are you sure you just fell because you're blood sugar was low? If it's something more we should get someone to heal you."

"I'm sure. Meredith ran all the test - CT, MRI, the works. I'm ok."

"Ok," Addie nodded as she got her backpack from by the front door, "because Jeremy's right; we can't lose you, too."

* * *

Addie groaned and smashed a pillow over her face as a doorbell echoed through the house. It couldn't be anyone important; everyone was at Alaric's funeral. Perhaps if she ignored whoever it was they would go away. She just wanted to lay in bed and in a funk. There was no particular reason that she could identify as the cause of her depression. It was just a gloomy day she had a bad feeling about. Or she was looking for an excuse not to do her physics homework, which was very likely.

"I'm coming," she yelled grumpily, storming out of her room as the doorbell continued to ring for several minutes. Her mood and outlook on the world became darker as she opened the door to reveal Klaus. Starting to close it again she quipped smartly, "We're not interested in buying any Girl Scout cookies. Thanks."

"I'm leaving town and you and your sister are coming with me," he proclaimed, loud and firm.

Addie rested against the partially open door as she looked out at him. She shook her head slowly. "No, I don't think that's going to happen."

"This isn't a question, Addison. I am telling you what is going to happen," Klaus said low and threateningly.

"Sorry but my sister's not here."

He stroked his chin thoughtfully, "Well, I suppose I could always take you and come back for her."

"What's the rush?"

"It turns out that my mother is possessing my sister and, as you know, she is very eager to kill off her children, particularly me. I would like to put as much distance between her and myself as soon as possible but I had to pick up a few essentials first - flashlight, spare tire, doppelganger, and you," Klaus answered nonchalantly.

Her fingers ran through her hair nervously. She couldn't allow Ester to kill her children. If she killed all four that was a guarantee that Damon would die. She tried to keep her voice firm and steady as she asked, "Shouldn't we be looking for a way to stop your mother instead of running?"

"No, there are too many potential energy sources for my mother to draw more power from in the area. It's better to fight her i a neutral territory when we have a plan of how to actually take her out. In the meantime, I don't plan on letting her kill you or your sister. She knows I want to use both of you."

"I should be helping her kill you," Addie mused softly to herself.

"Then you'd be responsible for killing your precious boy toy."

Her jaw clenched reflexively. "I don't believe you turned his bloodline."

"I don't always tell you the full truth but I don't lie to you. I turned his line. If you don't believe me would you like to ask my obnoxiously moral brother?" he proposed, offering her his cellphone.

She felt a hollow pit in her stomach. If Klaus was saying that Elijah would agree with him, then he was most likely telling the truth. She took a deep breath. "If I agree to leave with you, do you believe that your mother will follow us?"

"Yes."

"Do you promise to leave everyone here untouched?"

"Yes."

"I don't like the idea of your mother being close if you turned Damon's line. I don't know how long it will take her to figure out a way to kill you," Addie thought aloud pensively. "Would you be willing to make a compromise?"

He eyed her suspiciously. "Possibly."

"I will go with you now. Once we have successfully led your mother away from Mystic Falls, I will convince Elena to come and get me, while really luring her to you, if you promise that you are only going to be taking her blood and you will not injure her and that she will be safe and well cared for. Once your mother is out of the picture, you let Elena go back to living her life. I'll convince her to supply you with blood whenever you need it," Addie proposed. It felt like acidic liquid guilt was burning a hole through her stomach. Her intentions were to never actually get Elena got in Klaus' web but even the suggestion felt awful. She had to this to save Damon, Stefan, Caroline, and Tyler.

Klaus considered the idea as he shoved his hands into his pockets and rocked on the balls of his feet. He still had enough of Elena's blood to make a few more hybrids. There wasn't an urgent demand. Being in the proximity of his mother did make him anxious. He would prefer to get to a territory where he had more of his army for protection. Stefan and Damon had proved on several occasions that they were capable of protecting Elena.

Besides, he already knew what benefits he could reap from Elena. Addie possibly had so much more potential; he just had to tap into it. She was the sister that he needed to focus on and experiment with.

"And what about you once we've taken care of my mother?"

"I don't think you'd give me that kind of leverage. Frankly, I don't care what happens to me as long as my friends and family are safe."

Klaus nodded and agreed, "Fine. Let's go."

"I need to pack," Addie protested.

"No time. I'll buy you new stuff."

"I at least need my laptop. Stuff on there cannot be replaced!"

* * *

"This isn't exactly what I pictured when you said we were going far from Mystic Falls," Addie muttered as she watched Klaus pace back and forth across the sparse living room. Klaus had taken them to a lavish, foreclosed house in a town only two hours away. At least he had allowed her to follow him in her own car.

"We need to have a little heart to heart," he said sternly, crossing his arms in front of his chest as he stood in front of her.

Sarcastically she bit back, "We didn't have enough of a heart to heart when your hand was wrapped around my heart last night?"

"No. I'm going to be honest with you, so I expect you to be honest with me," he remarked patronizingly.

Addie inhaled through her teeth sharply as if in pain. "Yeah, I'm not sure if I can believe in the whole honesty spiel coming from you."

He shrugged and gave her an icy, uncompromising look. "If you want answers, you're going to have to give some. Can you be compelled?"

"I believe you already know the answer to that," she sighed running her fingers through her hair. It was useless to keep up the pretense.

"I want to hear it from you."

"No."

"Good," Klaus nodded. "It means a locator spell won't work on you and we're safe to talk her for a bit."

That wasn't entirely true. Elena and Jeremy's blood couldn't be used to track her but Damon's could. She wasn't going to correct him, though. And she doubted anyone would be trying locator spells if they didn't hear from her for a few hours.

"How do you know that?"

"I've told you; I've studied people like you," he answered cryptically.

"What do you mean like me?" she demanded sharply.

"Special people. Siblings, particularly female siblings to potential hunters, like Jeremy."

Addie could feel a dull ache begging in the back of her head. He mentioned before for how she was different because of Jeremy possibly turning into something in the future. She remembered exactly what Klaus had told her over the summer.

" _There are six billion people in the world. Of those six billion people only five should concern you if you're so worried about your brother. One of them dies and your brother kills a vampire it is possible that he turns into the Hulk, He'll be stronger, faster, and have a thirst to kill vampires. Think of it as an upgrade. On the whole, Jeremy has a 99% chance of remaining as an unremarkable, average human."_

"This summer you said there didn't seem to be anything special about me except the fact that my blood was poisonous as a defensive mechanism against the vampires Jeremy could bring into my life," she recalled, slightly accusatory.

"Then I noticed you couldn't be compelled."

"How did you figure that out?"

"Damon's feeling for you are unquestionable. However, his decisions regarding your safety and his respect of your independence is extremely questionable. He took drastic actions when Alaric attacked you -"

"Because you baited him," Addie interrupted indignantly.

Klaus continued on as if he hadn't heard her, "He loathes me and yet he hasn't taken any action to keep you away from me."

"Except try to kill you," she interjected again.

He continued to ignore her. "I wasn't 100% convinced that you couldn't be compelled until I saw you today. I knew you would tell Damon of our little encounter last night. If he could compel you, he would have told you to stay away from me. He respects you but he values your life more. Obviously you're here with me, meaning he can't compel you."

"That's despicable. Even if he could, Damon would not compel me," she spat, doubting her own words even as she said them. He could be irrationally protective. She shook her head in disgust. "Is that why you did that? Is that why you nearly killed me? To see if I could be compelled?"

"Yes and no. Damon may have made you resistant to compulsion but-" He hesitated and reconsidered, "Actually, did he? I know Katherine is the one who told you about the whole thing. I suppose it's possible she did it."

She scoffed in disbelief, "You obviously know the process. Do you believe Damon would actually do that even if I begged him to?" Of course he had but she wasn't going to explicitly tell Klaus if he could conclude otherwise. Damon had been doing it for her benefit and it hadn't been as if he enjoyed it. Plus his feelings hadn't been the same way back then.

"Katherine makes more logical sense. I'm not sure if _I_ need to repeat the same process with you to use you for my purposes," he explained.

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "And what is your purpose with me? What's so special about me? Why do you want me?"

"I'll reveal that in time. As for a hint, how familiar are you with Greek and Roman mythology?" Klaus taunted with a knowing smirk.

First a sense of dread quickly followed by a pang of excitement hit Addie. She _loved_ Greek and Roman mythology. She was taking Latin because she wanted to read ancient Roman works, including ones about mythology, in the original language! It was a vast culture but it was a starting point.

"A bit. I'll be sure to do some research. Does this conclude our little heart to heart?" Addie replied snidely. "Can we go?"

"We're waiting for Tyler to bring some essential items. When my mother made her presence known this morning I didn't exactly have time to pack."

Addie giggle. She found it amusing that the terrifying Klaus was so afraid of his mother. "Did she threaten you with the boogey man?"

"The what?"

"Nevermind. What does your mother want? Besides killing off vampires. How long has she been possessing your sister? Why did she just now make her presence known?" Addie wondered.

"I don't know exactly how long. She flew into a fit when I mentioned to her this morning that Alaric Saltzman was dead. Apparently every time he died he took a trip to the Other Side, where she would mess with his mind. She was turning him into the ultimate vampire hunter. I think she wanted to turn him into something like my father," Klaus explained as he wearily sunk into the couch next to her.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly, seeing the distant, longing look in his eyes.

"What?" he asked in surprise.

"To have both of your pa your parents hate who you are? To want you dead? That must be awful," Addie sympathized. "The worst I ever had to experience was my parents preferring my siblings over me."

He gave her a small grin. "You're not much like your siblings. Guess we're both the black sheep in our families."

"I suppose."

He shifted on the couch so he was facing towards her and stretched his arm along the back of it. Genuinely curious he puzzled, "Why aren't you terrified of me? Everyone else is. I almost killed you last night."

"But you were never going to let me die. You called Damon to give him a chance to come to my rescue and when he didn't, you healed me," Addie pointed out as she crossed her arms and stretched her legs out. She looked down at his feet, letting her hair fall around her face as a shield. She didn't want to talk about how she felt about him; she tried to avoid think about that as much as possible.

"I could turn you right now. My blood is still in your system."

"You could but you won't. Whatever you want me for, you need me human. Besides, it's Damon's blood in my system now. He got a little…"

"Possessive?" Klaus supplied as he laughed. "That simply means you have his blood and my blood in you. It would be a matter of chance as to whose blood actually turned you. Unless he gave you so little blood that it's already passed from your system."

Addie shook her head slowly, "Not, uh, not exactly. He knew you'd have to have given me a lot to heal such a major injury and Damon doesn't particularly like to be outdone."

"Perhaps I do want to turn you but not quite yet. Is Damon why you're not scared of me? Because you believe he will always protect you?" he asked, going back to his original question.

The dark red ends of Addie's hair wrapped around her fingers as she thought. "Sort of but not because he will protect me. I used to be scared of Damon at first. I was scared of you at first, too. Then I realized that Damon isn't all evil and cruel. When he has an objective when he acts that way or he has feelings that he doesn't know how to express any other way." There was much more she could say about Damon but she didn't want to give all his secrets away to Klaus. "I'm not convinced you're some horrible monster. I believe that you're terrified of being weak and alone. I can't figure out any other reason why someone would become as furious with their family as you do when they do something minor and yet keep them so close, sometimes literally. Family is a person's greatest strength. The next best thing to family is having a massive army that has to do whatever you want and is even more devoted and loyal to you than family."

"I'm not afraid of anything but assuming you were right, you are not my family nor are you one of my hybrids, meaning you should still be scared."

"I'm not convinced I should. Everyone else treats you with hostility and that's how you treat them. I know you say you treat me the way you do so that I will be more willing to work with you in whatever you want me for but I think it's because you appreciate the… humanity I show you. The golden rule is the principle of reciprocality; treat others the way you would want to be treated. I think there is some validity to that with you," Addie explained. It sucked to admit that she had any semblance of a bond with Klaus. "Plus, Damon says I have a thing for bad guys."

"I think it's more that you like to be reckless," postulated Klaus.

"Thank you!" Addie exclaimed, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "I do _not_ have a thing for bad guys. I just enjoy scaring the shit out of people and living on the edge. Well, not the edge. More like I like to drive a few miles over the speed limit. I'm not about to go and play Russian Roulette."

He smiled slightly as he tucked her hair behind her ear, his fingers lingering a little too long against her cheek for her to be comfortable. "You're special for more than _what_ you are."

* * *

Elena and Stefan sat in the Gilbert living room with Elijah, who had requested an audience with them. Damon had declined to join them, stating that he was too busy but he had made the time to join in via telephone. Nobody was really sure where Addie was but it wasn't unlike her to take off when she was feeling upset or conflicted; which she probably was considering the death of Alaric.

"I need your assistance in taking out my mother," the Original said, pulling a vial of White Oak ash and a silver dagger from the inside of blazer.

"Your mother isn't an Original vampire. How is that supposed to work?" she demanded, nodding towards the objects he displayed.

"Better question: why would we help you?" Damon demanded over the speakerphone.

"We don't know how she managed it but my mother is currently possessing my sister. The dagger will take my mother down as her spirit is confined in Rebekah's body at the moment. As for why you should help, my mother's goal is to eliminate all vampires. Her first goal is to kill Klaus. As the one who started your bloodline, if he dies, so do you," Elijah explained calmly.

Damon pulled the phone away from his ear and sneered at it. He was glad Bonnie and her mother were sitting in the kitchen and could not overhear the conversation. He did not need anything said that could possibly make them change their minds. It was already likely that the little witch wouldn't go through with it because she had to stop a human heart. She'd given him a pretty nasty look when he suggested she use Jeremy considering he had the Gilbert ring and would come back to life if she couldn't manage to resuscitate him. There was no doubt in his mind that Jeremy would be willing to do it to protect his sisters.

In a small voice Elena asked, "Klaus truly did start their line?"

"Yes."

Steady fingers ran through Damon's hair as he reluctantly accepted the consequences of his actions. His brother would. He would die. Addie would be safe. Addie would finally be able to have the normal life she craved. Addie wouldn't have to worry about Klaus hurting the ones she loved. Addie would be mad at him at first but she would come to realize that the sacrifice was all for her and she would be grateful. He would still kill Klaus once they desiccated him.

"How would we even go about stopping her? Wouldn't she suspect something?"

"No, we don't care," Damon told his brother firmly. "We let her kill off the rest of her children while we follow through with neutralizing Klaus and dropping him in the ocean, where she can't reach him."

Elijah cleared his throat and diplomatically replied, "I wouldn't put it past my mother to summon him up from the ocean. You forget that she is channeling the power of an uncountable number of witches from the Other Side to restore the balance in nature and remove vampires." There was a dangerous edge to his voice as he added, "What do you plan on doing to my brother?"

"Seeing as he constantly wants to use Elena as a human blood bag and has taken it upon himself to start ramming his fist into my girlfriend's chest, I'm going to make him all nice and pruny, just like Mikael was," Damon answered with a false sweetness.

"I'm with Damon," Stefan decided. "Desiccating Klaus is what is safest for Addie and Elena. I think we will take our chances with your mother possibly being able to raise him from 36,000 feet below the surface."

There was a long silence as Elijah considered his options. He had several; it was just a matter of whether he wanted to be quick and ruthless or to drag this out. His long fingers steepled under his chin.

"I can understand why you would want my brother out of the way. However, he has already left town. He could come back at any moment for Addie and Elena, though. You will not be able to find him unless you can perform a locator spell; for that you will need the blood of a relative, which I am the only one in the position to provide at the moment," he began.

Elena sharply retorted, "Stefan and Damon have done just fine protecting us from him this long."

"That's not entirely true," confessed Damon. Klaus had managed to nearly kill his Ads. He couldn't risk that again. "You need to sweeten the pot. We're not just going to help you find your brother so you can run away off from Mommy Dearest into the sunset together. As you said, he could come back whenever.

"I wasn't allowed to finish," Elijah said, his eyes quickly flashing to Elena. "I know the spell that was used to take down my father. You will have to get my brother still long enough for it to work. Damon, you and Stefan are strong but my brother is stronger. You will need assistance if you want your plan to work."

Damon snorted in disbelief as he stretched out along the couch. "Do you really believe us to be that stupid? You're not going to betray your brother to help us. We already trusted you to do that once and that's the whole reason Klaus is a damn hybrid and still alive."

"Elena, this is the safety of you and your sister that we are discussing, It's your call on whether or not we trust him," Stefan informed her gently. Damon didn't have a right to make any judgement calls.

"What?" Damon snapped. "Ok. I'm going to say this very slowly: do not trust him. All he's ever done is screw you over."

"And for that I am deeply ashamed. But know this, She could have been dead the instant I walked through that door tonight, so Elena, Stefan is right; I leave it up to you to make the decision whether to trust me or not."

"If we finally stop him, I need some guarantee that you and your family won't bring him back. After everything he's done to us, I just can't allow that," Elena determined resolutely.

Damon nearly dropped the phone in outrage. No way was he going to trust Elijah to help him take down Klaus. "No! Hello! Did that concussion give you brain damage?! You are not doing this he and his lunatic siblings will kill you the first second they get!"

"Kol and I give you our word that we will not revive Klaus with yours nor even within the lifetimes of yours and Addie's children," Elijah swore. "Perhaps that will finally teach Klaus some manners."

"And Rebekah?"

"I will make her agree to the terms once we have managed to expel my mother from her. Do we have a deal?"

"No! No, no no, no! Did I mention _no_?" Damon protested, screaming into the phone. Bonnie looked at him from the kitchen. He flashed her a dazzling smiling and wiggled his fingers at her in a wave.

"Elena, it's up to you," Stefan reminded her.

Still uncertain Elena stalled, "Why do you want Klaus' body?"

Elijah's answer was simple and almost Klaus-like. "He's my brother. We remain together."

"Hold up!" interrupted Damon, a counter argument suddenly coming to him. "This isn't just up to Elena. We are discussing her safety and _Addie's_ safety. They both have a say."

The Original sighed. He should have just gone with exploiting this particular angle in the first place. "When Klaus fled, he took Addison with him."

At that Damon didn't even attempt to recover the phone as it slipped from his hand.

 _Well, fuck._ That didn't leave him with very many options.

He picked up the cell to demand exactly what the hell Elijah meant but somebody must have already asked.

"He was coming over here to gather -his word, not mine - you and your sister before he left. He was very adamant about it. I noticed your sister's car is gone."

Damon could hear what sounded like footsteps on the stairs.

"Her door was unlock," Stefan said slowly, a trace of alarm in his voice. "I didn't see her laptop and headphones but this was on her desk."

"Would you mind telling us what _this_ is for those of us who can't see," Damon sneered sharply. Addie wouldn't leave with Klaus. Klaus would let her take her own car. They hadn't been able to reach her because she had gone off to the Grill or Starbucks and was listening to her music too loudly while she worked on a new project or some homework. He always told her she was going to go deaf.

"It's her cell phone," Elena answered pasted a hard lump in her throat as she took the device from Stefan. A red light was flashing indicating new notifications. The screen showed alerts for missed calls, new texts, and new voicemails. "Do you know her password, Damon?"

Addie had told it to him on several occasions when she had asked him to check a new message or such but he never paid attention. There were some signs of trust he could show despite his jealousy and not snooping through her phone, even at her request, was one of them.

"You don't need to go through her phone!"

"I wanted to see when was the last time she talked to anyone," bristled Elena.

"I talked to her on my way to the cemetery. We all tried to reach her after that to meet us back here for the reception. She didn't answer. I'm fairly certain it's safe to assume that nobody has heard from her in four or five hours," he snapped. He tugged anxiously at his hair. Addie never went anywhere without her cell. "How do we know she's with Klaus and not just at the library or something?"

"Damon makes a point."

"Klaus was very adamant about leaving with you guys. He would have compromised for would but he would not leave without both of you," Elijah said certainly. "If you don't believe me, we can just do a blood locator spell on both of them. I can assure you it will reveal that they are together."

Stefan and Elena exchanged a look. It didn't seem wise to reveal to him that a locating spell would not work with Jeremy or Elena's blood.

"What are we supposed to do about your mother? Won't she come after us?" distracted Stefan.

"I've been considering that," Elijah said slowly, smoothing out a wrinkle in his charcoal suit pants. "Our best chance of attack is to divide and conquer. We don't know how long my mother has be masquerading as my sister but we believe that she is going to keep up the appearance until she realizes that Klaus has left."

"At which point she'll leave town to chase after him, but as long as desiccate him first, it looks like a win-win to me," Damon quipped as he poured himself a drink.

"Desiccation makes Klaus a vulnerable target. You're forgetting that if he dies, so do you," the Original reminded primly.

Damon hadn't forgotten; it was that he didn't give a damn. As long as Klaus ended up dead, he was happy. He would prefer to be the one to drive the White Oak stake through his heart but if his lunatic mother got to him first, that worked, too.

"What do you mean divide and conquer?" Elena hesitated. She didn't like not having their full attention focused on saving her sister.

"My mother, as Rebekah, is supposed to be cleaning up at the school gym this afternoon following the events of last night's dance."

Elena groaned, "I had completely forgotten I was supposed to help her and Caroline with that."

"You're not alowed to do anything," Stefan said firmly, for once standing up to Elena. "You have a serious head injury. You're supposed to be resting."

The bourbon left an unfamiliar bitter aftertaste; though perhaps that had nothing to do with his drink. Sourly Damon noted, "Which gives Stefan the perfect excuse to go in Elena's place."

"Correct," nodded Elijah. "My mother won't expect anything from him since she believes her secret to be safe. Her guard will be down. On the off chance that something does happen, Caroline will be there to help Stefan. In Rebekah, my mother does not have her full powers; I'm confident the two of you can take her down with no risk to your lives."

"We can't do that! We can't ask Caroline to put herself in danger just to help us!"

"I think she's in more danger alone with Esther," Stefan countered. "Caroline would want to help. Obviously we'll tell her about this about this beforehand."

"What is the rest of your excellent divide and conquer plan? Where does the part where we save my girlfriend come in?" Damon demanded sharply. He was fairly confident Stefan could handle himself against the Original Witch but Addie was defenseless against Klaus.

Elijah's fingers tapped against his knee. Hopefully Damon's feelings were greater than his trust issues. "We will need the help of Miss Bonnie Bennett. With her assistance, you and I will be able to desiccate Niklaus. He will put up a fight but we should be able to manage. The only unpredictable factor is his hybrid Tyler Lockwood. He has Mr. Lockwood bringing him some essentials before he moves further away from town. Should Mr. Lockwood arrive there before we do, it will be two against two. We will have the additional challenge of taking out Mr. Lockwood before we can focus on Niklaus."

"Tyler wouldn't attack for Klaus," Elena said slowly. Given the circumstances, she hoped Caroline and Tyler would forgive her for revealing the secret. "He broke his sire bond. He would fight to take out Klaus out of pure revenge if not to protect my sister."

"Are you sure about that?" Damon asked wearily. "We can't take any chances in this."

She nodded, "I'm sure. He's just been acting like he's sired to Klaus to avoid retaliation and to protect Caroline. But if we're getting Klaus out of the way, he has no reason to hide it."

"How'd he break his bond?" Stefan wondered.

"He had to turn over and over. The bond was because he felt grateful to Klaus for freeing him from the curse of the full moon."

"If we have Mr. Lockwood on our side that would be a great advantage."

* * *

The leather squeaked as Damon's grip tightened on the steering wheel. He couldn't believe he was trusting _Elijah_ and _Tyler Lockwood_ to save his girlfriend. Not only was he trusting Elijah, he was putting his fair in Bonnie and her ability to perform some extremely powerful and dark magic. One of the guys would have to make and sustained physical contact with Klaus over his heart longer enough for Bonnie to chant the spell that would begin to desiccate him. They'd all had to drink her blood so she could feel when they made connection with Klaus.

The kicker? Bonnie would have to stop Jeremy Gilbert's heart to stop Klaus'. Addie was going to be thrilled about that. It wasn't like Damon was the one to suggest Jeremy but he definitely hadn't rejected the idea. It wasn't exactly like they had people lining up to offer themselves up. She'd probably still be mad at him for letting Bonnie and Jeremy go through with the plan. And she'd be mad at him for taking his life when he decided to kill Klaus. He couldn't risk anyone waking Klaus. He didn't trust Elijah's promise to keep his brother down. Abbey Bennett thought she had taken Mikael down for good but they had proved her wrong. Damon was not going to allow Klaus to be a continuous threat to Addie's life.

They had timed their departure so that Tyler would arrive at wherever in Richmond Klaus and Addie were ten minute before Damon and Elijah. Damon had Bonnie do a tracking spell with a locating spell with his blood prior to Elijah's arrival and then another one with the Original's blood. Both times the results had been the same. Addie was definitely with Klaus.

Elijah cast a glance over at the younger vampire. His lips were pressed into a thin line and his shoulders squared. His knuckles were white as his grip on the wheel strained.

"You don't trust me."

"Nope."

"Addison does."

Damon snorted derisively, "She also trusts your brother and he almost killed her and wants to use her for some unknown reason. Do you know why he's so obsessed with her?"

Elijah took a deep breath. "Not exactly. Well, no. Not at all, really. He made this painting that looks almost exactly like her, though, except instead of legs the thing has some type of tail. I don't know if that means anything or if it's just another one of the eccentricities of his brain."

"A tail? Like a mermaid?" puzzled Damon. That made absolutely no sense.

"No, that would be a fin. However, it has scales like a mermaid would."

"I'm sure it has nothing to do with Addie," he dismissed. It wasn't as if it mattered anymore. Klaus would be dead soon.

* * *

Addie sat curled up on the couch with her laptop propped open and headphones on, music blaring in her ears. There was no internet access so she couldn't tell anyone about the situation but she could still mix her music. It was definitely a downgrade from her studio in the attic but it would do in a pinch.

The weight on the plush cushions shifted and she could see a relieved expression on Klaus' face as he stood up and headed towards the door. There must have been a knock she hadn't heard. When he opened the door, Tyler could be seen peering around a tower of boxes. He came in and gave Addie a quizzical look, saying something. Klaus' stormy eyes flashed a warning look at her. She gave Tyler a small smile and wave before turning back to Klaus. She'd let Klaus deal with the explanation as to her presence.

Klaus moved back into the living room as Klaus continued to move in boxes. He opened one and checked for his art supplies. He was glad to find the canvas he had painted of the creature that had inspired Addie's creation.

A warm pressure settled lightly on Addie's shoulder, startling her. Her head whipped around in alarm to find Tyler leaning close to her, a finger over his lips. Klaus' back was to them but he must have said something because Tyler looked at him and she could see his lips form the words "other box". He finger returned over his lips when his attention was on her again. Addie rolled her eyes and nodded. She wasn't an idiot; she understood the universal symbol to be quiet.

"Damon is coming," Tyler mouthed, carefully forming each word. "Go to the bathroom."

There was an queasy, uncomfortable tightness just behind her naval. Damon couldn't take on Klaus. Addie gave Tyler a stubborn look that said she clearly wasn't going to take orders from him. Damon had warned she might be difficult. He unplugged the headphones from the laptop and closed it. She looked at him incredulously.

Silently he emphasized, "Go."

"So much for that sire bond," Klaus said, his voice was low and dangerous. Addie wasn't sure when he had turned around and noticed them. She slowly took off her headphones to better hear the conversation.

Tyler straightened up dignified and proudly said, "I'm not your little bitch boy anymore."

Klaus gave a tight-lipped grin, dimples forming in his cheeks but it lacked any humor or warmth. It fell as he slowly and deliberately stalked towards them. "How did you break the sire bond?"

"By breaking every bone in my body a hundred times for the girl I love," Tyler answered smartly.

"That's impossible."

"Is it?" he replied with an edge of sarcasm. "Or maybe real love is stronger than fake loyalty. But what would you know about that?" Tyler challenged.

Klaus whispered furiously as he got right in the teenager's face, "You should be thanking me. I gave you a gift. I took away your misery."

"You didn't give a crap about me!" Tyler snapped loudly.

Addie had decided to try and silently move towards the bathroom as the two hybrids had their little showdown. If Damon actually was on his way, she didn't want her safety to be a distraction for him. On the other hand, if she were present, perhaps she could convince Klaus not to kill him. She wasn't sure which was the right decision. A few moments in private to think would help.

A thousand years had allowed Klaus to develop senses that rivaled a comic book hero. Tyler's odd behavior had him suspicious and so he was on high alert. The soft rumble of an engine coming to a stop in front of the house had him springing into to action. Already having an idea of who it was, he caught Addie around the waist as he stopped her moving from between the couch and the hall. He held her flush against his chest with his other hand resting over her heart.

Addie's heart dropped as she watched Damon stroll in through the front door. His devilishly good looks, hypnotizing sky blue eyes, and confidence didn't wasn't what made her heart flutter the way it usually it. All she could think about was his safety.

"I'm only going to ask this nicely once: get your filthy paws off my girlfriend," snarled Damon.

"Did that sound very nice to you?" Klaus softly asked Addie, leaning down to talk into her ear.

"You know, you two are both too proud for me to hope for us to discuss this like rational people," she mused. She noticed the way Klaus' arm was around her had her hands pinned to her side.

"I'm inclined to agree with you, Addison," said the calm, reassuring voice of Elijah as he appeared behind Damon.

In mild surprise Klaus noted, "Elijah, what are you doing here?"

"How about you let Addison go and we can discuss that? You're frightening her."

"She's my guarantee that he behaves," responded Klaus, nodding towards Damon.

Damon took a step closer to them. "I'm not going to let you use her as a manipulation tactic."

"It's not a tactic. Come any closer and I'll rip her heart out," Klaus threatened.

"You won't. If you wanted to do that, you would have done that last night."

Damon took a confident, deliberate step. Addie screamed out, as for the second time in less than 24 hours, she felt a deep, acute ache as Klaus' hand plunged into her chest. Lighting reflexes had Damon ripping Klaus arm out of his girlfriend before he had a chance to get a grip on her heart. Tyler had joined in the fray, grabbing Klaus arm from around Addie's waist and twisting it behind his back until he heard bones cracked. Without Klaus for support, Addie crumbled to the ground, bleeding profusely from her chest. With every breath her fractured rib cage and sternum felt like a knife piercing into her.

"Focus, Damon!" Elijah command as he flashed into the situation. The younger vampire's hold on Klaus was weakening. Elijah placed his hand over his younger brother's heart and Klaus roared in pain and rage.

Damon tried to let the sound of Klaus ring louder in his ears than the echo of Addie's cries of pain. Klaus had almost broken free of his hold. He screwed his eyes shut to keep them from drifting to the source of shallow weeping. He wouldn't give a damn about stopping Klaus if he saw Addie hurting. He had to keep reminding himself that this was for the best; her temporary suffering was to prevent any future suffering.

Klaus struggled to breath as his heart sped, slamming into his chest. All he could hear was the sound of it beating. Suddenly there was silence and he felt himself go limp' it was the support of the three other men that kept him upright. His eyes glistened as he met Elijah's. What had his brother done?

Seeing Klaus was defeated, Damon quickly let go him, flashing to Addie's side. His arm curl protectively around her as he tried to help her sit up. He shoved his other wrist, already bit and bleeding, just under her mouth.

Addie shook her head slowly. She winced as she pulled away her crimson stained hand away from her chest. Through the rip in the fabric, under a coating of blood, the wound was slowly closing. Bile burned in her throat at all the blood but she fought against it. Hoarsely she whispered, "It's healing."

"It's not healing fast enough," Damon decided, waving his wrist insistently. "You're still bleeding. You have enough vampire blood left in your system to heal you, yes, but it will take hours to mend the broken bones." He could see her lips press in a firm defiance as he felt her shoulders square. That didn't keep her from shuddering in agony when she took a rough, shallow breath. "Don't be stubborn, Ads. There's no reason for you to hurt when you don't need to."

"Fine," she murmured. Damon, having already healed, bit his wrist again and held it out to her.

"Thank you," he whispered, kissing her temple and rubbing her back soothingly as she drank.

* * *

Addie sat in the passenger seat of her own car fuming as Tyler drove the vehicle just into town. He had told her the entire plan. _Everyone_ had been involved in such a _stupid_ plan to take down Klaus and Esther! Those morons thought the smart thing to do was to split up and to trust the guy that kept betraying them. Granted she probably would have trusted Elijah but at least she had a super-sense to tell if he was being honest or not.

Scowling, she went to cross her arms in front of her before remembering the sticky, uncomfortable blood-soaked shirt.

"Don't be too mad at them," Tyler said softly, chancing his first words since she had snapped at him for being an idiot and going along with the plan. "They all love you. Everyone was eager to do their job. We've all wanted Klaus gone for months. Even if Klaus haden't taken you and they figured out how to beat him, they would have done it with or without your approval."

"I'm mad at Damon; he was the damn ringleader," she grumbled bitterly.

"Stefan played a pretty big role, too. He wasn't there to take down Klaus but he took out Esther. He wanted to protect Elena from Klaus just as much as Damon wanted to protect you. And just because they organized it doesn't mean they actually _lead_ or even encouraged anyone to do anything," defended Tyler.

"I don't care," she dismissed, not fully hearing what he was saying. An overwhelming sense of exhaustion hit as they turned onto her street. "I just want to take a shower and go to bed."

Everyone else had another idea in mind. Addie opened the door to her home to find all her friends laughing and passing around drinks. Bad pop music blasted from the stereo. Inwardly she groaned.

"I'm so glad you're ok!" Jeremy exclaimed. He made to give her one of his giant bear hugs before noticing the blood on her shirt. He opted for an awkward side squeeze.

Addie pushed him away and hissed, "I'll deal with you later." Jeremy wasn't getting a free pass. The imbecile _volunteered_ to let Bonnie stop his heart.

"Hey," Elena greeted, giving a similar hug as Jeremy had. "I'm glad you're ok. I was worried about you."

"What is all this?" asked Addie as she motioned to Caroline, Bonnie, Stefan, and Matt dancing and Jeremy and Tyler, who had joined the.

"Welcome to our victory party!" Caroline cheered, having overheard. Addie assumed her red solo cup had to be practically empty as she jumped up and down in excitement as nothing sloshed out.

Jeremy turned the music down slightly. Bonnie looked around the room, beaming. "Is it just me or does it feel like we've been trying to get rid of Klaus for forever?"

Everyone but Addie laughed.

"You know, to be honest, I'm a little pissed none of you…"

Whatever else Matt was going to say was lost to Addie as she trudged up the stairs. She wasn't in much of a celebratory mood. Did they not realize how dangerous their little scheme had been? A shower and bed was all she wanted. Perhaps she'd be less frustrated with them in the morning.

* * *

The loud sound of whooshing wind stopped as Addie clicked off Elena's blow dryer. Her hair was still a little damp but she didn't mind. She just didn't want to get her pillow drenched. A haunted girl with deep blue eyes stared back at her from the mirror. She looked beaten down, defeated and drained. Her neck and shoulders rolled in attempt to relieve some of the tension and stress she was carrying in them.

Peeking out the top of her spaghetti strap tank in the center of her chest was a rosy coloring. Addie tugged down her shirt and examined to where the rose coloring spread down between her breast. The injury from Klaus had mostly healed but there was still some discoloration where her skin had knitted back together.

Damon had been so audacious to take on Klaus, even with the support of Elijah and Tyler. Hadn't he promised her he would be more mindful when it came to his safety? He was so arrogant; he thought he was indestructible. He thought he could do whatever the hell he wanted to _protect_ her. He probably hadn't even stopped to consider that she had a very good reason for leaving with Klaus. His behavior was getting out of hand. She had been relieved when Damon had entrusted Tyler to get her home while he and Elijah took care of Klaus. She wasn't sure she wanted to be left alone with Damon. She was furious at him and his stupid plan. The nightmares would be preferable to his presence that night.

Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Damon's long, black clad form was stretched out on her bed but her jerked into a sitting position as soon as he saw her.

"Are you ok?"

"Back to using the window?" Addie observed coolly, noticing hers was slightly cracked open.

"Everyone was downstairs. I didn't want that. I just wanted a few minutes alone with you. Although, you don't seem like you want to be alone with me," Damon observed. Addie was leaning against her dresser, her arms crossed and a small frown.

"I'm furious at you. No, I'm not particularly in the mood to be alone with you," she admitted.

"What did you expect me to do? Let the guy who nearly killed you take off to God knows where? Yes, I know it's one thing when I go rogue but I needed help this time. I made Jeremy and Elena were perfectly safe, though. Elena wasn't even involved," he exhaled in frustration. He didn't want the last moments he had with her to be an argument.

Addie gawked at him. He couldn't possibly be serious. "Jeremy's heart was stopped!"

"He was wearing his ring. I told him not to do it because you'd be pissed; he said he didn't care as long as it meant you lived," Damon said in his own defense.

"He was wearing a ring that could turn him into a crazed psycho killer if he keeps dying!"

"Bonnie brought him back to life, not the ring. He's fine."

"Because you got lucky," Addie sneered, over emphasizing every word. "You got lucky that nobody involved got hurt."

Damon ran a hand over his face as he breathed deeply. He just wanted a few minutes of peace with her. "You're right; I got lucky. But I wasn't the only one who agree to this. In fact, it wasn't up to me. Elijah and Stefan left the decision up to your sister." He wasn't going to point out that he and Stefan and Bonnie and Jeremy had all already agreed to the plan. One of those two could possibly point that out after he was gone.

Addie scoffed, "That doesn't mean you had to go along with it."

"Yes, Ads," he said softly, moving towards her. "Yes, I did. I don't known what I would do if something happened to you. I couldn't risk that."

Her teeth gently pressed at her lip as she looked down. Her vision went blurry as the tears she had been fighting back since Tyler mentioned came forth. The familiar scent of ginger, cloves and sandalwood didn't help her resolve to stay angry with him.

"Hey," murmured Damon, noticing the flush of her cheeks and the reddening of her nose. Her eyes glistened just as he excepted when he cupped her face and tilted it up towards his. "I know you're mad at me but please, please don't cry."

Addie's fingers lightly curled around his wrist. He held her so gently but she could feel the strength and power in him. Part of her just wanted to curl up with him and relish in the fact that everything had turned out ok/ They could finally put the Klaus situation behind them and move on with their lives. The right thing wasn't always the easy thing. She couldn't keep encouraging his careless, selfish behavior. He needed to understand the impact he was having on her.

Reluctantly she pulled his hands away from her. "I can't do this with you, Damon. Not tonight. I'm too…. Today has been a long day."

"Love, everything is ok. We don't need to fight," he insisted as he tried to take her hands but she wouldn't let him.

Addie deftly moved between him and the dresser. "Everything is not ok," she snapped. "We may not need to argue but I am extremely pissed off at you and we need to have a serious discussion. I just can't handle having that conversation tonight. I don't know what I want to say and I don't want to say something I'll regret."

Damon ran his fingers through his hair. He couldn't leave things with her this way. Uncertain, he worried, "Are we ok, at least?"

Addie shook her head. They weren't going to be ok until he understood that she valued his life just as much as he valued hers. It broke her heart and terrified her every time he took on stupid, dangerous risk when he didn't need to. He had placed himself in great jeopardy when he attacked Klaus. She felt a twinge of guilt as his face fell.

"What are you doing with Klaus body?" she asked for distraction.

"We agreed to hand him over to Elijah on the condition that he doesn't wake him during the lifetime of you, your sister, or either of your children's. Obviously I'm not stupid enough to trust that so Bonnie's agreed to spell the coffin I've got him in shut for the next 100 years," Damon explained with a proud smirk. "I told Elijah that everyone would have to see Klaus' body to believe we actually took him down. I picked up a coffin on the way into town. I'll have Bonnie do the spell after we're done talking. Then I agreed to take him out to a storage locker out in Lynchburg for Elijah and Rebekah to get him."

"So they were able to get Esther out of Rebekah?"

"Yeah. Bonnie wiggled her nose and she was back in her own body. Rebekah killed her, I think."

"Bonnie's had a busy day," Addie mumbled under her breath with a hint of couldn't meet Damon's eyes as she ran her fingers through her hair. Pushing Damon away would hurt him worse than fighting with him but the last time they had talked about him taking his safety more seriously for her benefit had obviously made no impact. Addie preferred not to look at it as a punishment but more like sending him to timeout for being selfish. "So have I. I want to go to bed. Are you going to use the window or the door?"

"You're going to sleep right now?"

"Yes."

Damon frowned; he didn't want to part on a bitter note. "What about the nightmares? Don't you want me to stay until you at least fall asleep."

"Nope," she said coolly as she situated herself in bed.

Not wanting her to freeze in the middle of the night, Damon shut the window the last bit of the way. He leaned over her to kiss her goodnight, to kiss her goodbye but she turned away from him. His fingers glided through the silk-like strands of dark red hair one last time. He looked at her for several long moments, hoping she would change her mind.

Damon stared down at his daylight ring as he twisted it around his finger. He was a fool to believe he ever knew love before Addie. The idea of love he had for Katherine and Elena was completely wrong. Love did not solely belong to one person. No matter how hard you try, if the feeling's not mutual, it will be fruitless. What he had with Addie was immutable. They fell in love with each other's impatience and temper and stubbornness. They loved each other just the way there were - completely and utterly flawed. Together they were stripped bare of all their secrets and all the parts of them that were broken and it was nothing less perfection to Damon.

He slipped off the heavy ring and set it silently on her night stand. There was no point in him keeping it but perhaps she would want it.

"I love you, Addie. Never forget that," he whispered tenderly.

* * *

Addie groaned when she realized her bedroom light was still on. She thought Damon turned that of when he left. Though, she wasn't exactly sure how long ago that had been. In fact, she didn't remember hearing him leave. She couldn't hear the dim roar of the party downstairs anymore. She wondered how much time had passed. Her alarm clock indicated no more than an hour.

Odd. A giant blue stone was blocking the bottom part of the '5' on the digital display. Addie's lips pursed and eyebrows knitted together as she carefully examined the very familiar object between her fingers. She caressed the ornate, silver 'D' as she recalled the first time she took it from him. His lips had pressed into a thin line but he didn't saying thing. The lightheartedness of their conversation quickly dissipated, though. She had given it back to him immediately. He said that he trusted that she would.

Wondering why he had left it, Addie went to her desk and grabbed her cell phone to call him. It went to voicemail after two rings. She tried again and got his voicemail after only one ring. He was ignoring her.

Addie opened the door to her bathroom and was relieved to find that Elena had her side open as well. She was talking to Stefan on speaker phone as she brushed her hair.

"Hey," Addie interrupted, quietly knocking on the doorframe.

"Hey. You didn't stick around for the party. Are you feeling ok?" Elena asked with the concern only a big sister could have. Damon had told her how badly Addie had been injured by Klaus.

"Yeah. Um, have you guys seen Damon?" she said, shifting her weight uncomfortably. She had a wired feeling, as if she had consumed four or five pots of coffee.

"He showed up about forty-five minutes ago. It took Bonnie forever to do whatever she had to do to lock up the coffin. I think she might have used hybrid blood because Damon called Tyler outside at one point. We all took off about fifteen minutes ago. Damon went to return Klaus's body to Elijah and Rebekah," recapped Stefan, his voice slightly distant.

It seemed particularly un-Damon-like to simply hand over Klaus, even if he was trapped in a coffin. Damon was the type who liked to have even more control of the situation than that.

"You think Damon might have been trying to find a way for Bonnie to kill Klaus?" Addie wondered aloud.

For a split second Elena was concerned but she quickly dismissed the idea. "Bonnie's been trying to figure that out since, like, April. It's not possible. Besides, we did the whole desiccation thing because killing him would mean Stefan, Damon, Caroline, and Tyler all die as well."

"That's not exactly true," mused Stefan, sounding particularly broody. "Damon was planning the desiccation spell with Bonnie before Elijah proposed it. He wasn't doing it because it would keep everyone alive and get Klaus out of the way. He did it to protect Addie; it was the only thing he knew to do." He hesitated as he thought a little harder. "I know my brother and when he becomes fixated on something, it consumes him. Your safety is his fixation. Damon doesn't trust any of the Originals. If he had a way to guarantee that Klaus would die, he would take the opportunity no matter who ended up as collateral damage.

"Well, then it's a good thing that he doesn't have a way to kill Klaus."

"So, why would he leave this," she held up his daylight ring, "on my nightstand?"

"Is that his daylight ring?"

Addie could mentally see Stefan blanch as he said in soft disbelief, "He wouldn't take that off unless he wasn't going to need it anymore."

Addie nodded as she slipped the ring onto her thumb; the fit was extremely loose. Damon's hands had always seemed massive compared to hers. "That's what I was afraid of."

"I don't take Damon for the suicidal type, especially not after we just won."

"Unless he had a way of killing Klaus. I suppose it's possible that he lied about Alaric telling him where the stake is," muttered Stefan.

"He didn't," Addie responded slowly, a cold dread spreading through her. Quickly she turned on her heel ad walked back into her room. She lifted the corner of her mattress and looked under it for the last White Oak stake. As she feared, it was gone. Loudly she swore, "That dick!"

"What's wrong?" Elena asked, entering her sister's room after she hung up with Stefan. Normally she wouldn't dare to but there was a sound of panic in Addie's voice that unnerved her.

"He has the stake," she answered distractedly. Her phone was balance between her ear and shoulder as she grabbed a heavy coat from her closet and tugged it on. Damon rejected her call again. "Goddamn it! Answer your phone!"

"You don't think he actually would-"

"I don't know! I don't know how far he will go at this point," Addie snapped as she snatched up her keys.

Elena quickly followed her sister as she took the stairs two at a time. "Where do you think you're going?"

"After Damon," spat Addie as if it was obvious.

Shallow breathing, trembling hands, and watery eyes suggested her sister was moments away from a panic attack and wasn't fit to drive anywhere. Trying to reason with her Elena calmly pointed out, "Do you even know where he went?"

"Nope!" she admitted loudly as she flung the front door open.

Elena took a few extra seconds to slip on a pair of flip-flops that were by the front door and tugged a jacket off the coat rack before following after her sister. Addie could be irrational enough to embrace the chilly November night in track shorts and barefoot but she wasn't going to freeze her ass off. Addie was about to climb into her Jeep by the time she made it outside.

"Stop! Just stop!" yelled Elena, surprised when her sister actually froze. Elena snatched the keys out of her hands as she demanded, "How do you expect to go after him if you don't know where he is?"

"I'm not going to just sit here and do nothing while Damon potentially kills off himself, Stefan, Caroline, and definitely Tyler," Addie said, her voice cracking and her lower lip quivering. A single tear rolled down her cheek and she brushed away at it furiously; she was not going to let herself loose control. She could not afford to let her fear get the better of her. Her focus had to stay on being angry with Damon.

Elena's jaw clenched when her sister mentioned Stefan. It hadn't occurred to her all the people who would be hurt by Damon's actions. Her little sister trembled as she pulled her in for a quick hug, undoubtedly from a mix of the cold and the anxiety she battled. Elena ran a hand over her head and down to where Addie's hair stopped halfway down her back; it was a comforting gesture she had seen Jeremy and her parents use countless of times.

Sounding much calmer than she felt, Elena tried to reassure her sister, "I'll take you to him, ok? He's not going to do anything with the stake."

"You don't know that," Addie mumbled tearfully as she wrapped her arms around her sister, clinging to any source of comfort or hope.

"He wouldn't do that to you. He wouldn't leave you," Elena declared, not fully believing her own words. Damon would do whatever he thought would be safest for Addie. "Get in. I'll drive. You keep calling him."

"He keeps ignoring my calls," whispered Addie, anxiously running her fingers through her hair as she walked around to the other side of the car.

As they both got in, Elena gave her a small smile. "That's why you're going to bug him until he answers."

 _Or he'll just turn off his phone_ , Addie thought to herself. Nevertheless, she still hit redial as Elena pulled the Jeep out of the driveway. Again, he sent the call to voicemail after a couple of rings. Her fingers fumbled so tensely over the keyboard of her phone it took her several minutes to compose her text without errors.

 _Addie: Answer your damn phone. I know you're ignoring my calls._

"I do know he's in Lynchburg," she sighed as she rested her head against the window. It was cool and hard and reminded her of the mornings she would wake with her head on Damon's chest but it lacked the familiar, steady beating of his heart.

"Yes," nodded Elena as she headed north out of town, "but you don't know where in Lynchburg."

"I'm assuming you do?"

Elena nodded again. "I was there when he told Stefan."

" _You make me feel like I'm living a teenage dream. The way you-"_

"Hey," said Elena as she answered the cell phone in her lap. Despite the grim situation, a smile tugged at her lips.

Stefan's voice was ominous as it echoed through the car, "Take me off speaker."

Addie caught the concerned glance her sister quickly gave her as she put the device to her ear, driving with one hand. Addie suddenly felt very dizzy, as if all the blood had rushed from her head. That blood felt like ice running through her veins, making all her muscles contract in pain. It was a battle to breathe as she felt her throat constrict. She wanted to run. To run away from her own body. To run until the racing of her heart made sense. To run where shear panic couldn't reach her. To run to the one person who could fix everything without a word. Damon.

The tears flowed unnoticed as she called Damon over and over, immediately hitting redial the instant she got his voicemail. Addie didn't need to hear the conversation to know what Stefan was telling Elena; Damon had used the stake. And he was ignoring her calls because he knew livid, enraged, and furious were the first three emotions she identified. She doubted he even considered all the other things she felt, like fear, longing, guilt, passion, and, most of all, love.

"What are you doing?" Addie snapped in alarm as she noticed her sister slow the car down as they almost finished crossing the newly restored Wickery Bridge.

"We have to go back," Elena exhaled softly as she made a U-turn. "If Klaus is the one that turned their bloodline, then they're all gonna die. Tyler, Caroline, Stefan. We have to say goodbye."

Addie shook her head insistently. "No, no. We're going to _Damon_."

"No," her sister decided firmly as the car began to reach normal speed again. "You and Damon had your goodbye; that's what he told Stefan. That's why he's not answering his phone."

Her fingers tangled in her hair as she tried to figure out what her sister was talking about. Damon had _not_ told her goodbye and that he was off to go and commit suicide. Their last conversation hadn't even been close to a goodbye; it had bordered on a fight without the actual arguing. Addie had explicitly told him she was pissed off at him and he had… he'd let it go. He hadn't forced her to explain herself or pushed her to talk to him or decided that he was going to stick around until she wasn't mad. Damon had left her angry. It had been awhile since he had let them part on bad terms. He'd come to believing in working things out instead of letting them fester. Had he been trying to say goodbye and she had pushed him away?

"Turn around," Addie said softly as a lead weight of guilt settled in the pit of her stomach.

"No."

"Elena, _turn around_."

"No!"

Damon was going to die thinking she didn't want him, that she was too angry at him. She couldn't let him believe that. It wasn't just that, though. Her parents, Uncle John, Aunt Jenna and even Alaric had all died before she had a chance to say goodbye. If she had that opportunity with Damon, she had to take it. Determined, Addie shoved at the wheel to try and make Elena turn around.

"Addie!" exclaimed Elena, jerking the wheel back in the correct direction.

There was a brief struggle and then….

When people are afraid they might die, they often report that the event lasted far longer than was possible. Somehow, in just a few seconds they find the time to consider a great number of topics in detail. They think through their past, they speculate on the future and all the while they scan their memories for any piece of knowledge from anywhere that might help them to survive. The experience of time deceleration through fear is well-established. Every second feels brand new, which causes one to judge the event to have taken longer than it really did, to have happened in slow-motion. This sensation is amplified by the fact that in a car accident the mind focuses on the elements of a situation necessary for survival and filters out anything inessential such as the scenery or the sounds of breaking wood or a sister's terrified screams. These are the cues which would normally help to assess time passing. Without them, once again time warps.

Addie's arm's curled around her head in an effort to stabilize her neck as she felt her world shift. She swore her heart stopped. Her stomach seemed to have been ripped out of her when she had begun to fall.

 _They were on a never ending road trip to see their grandparents. As always, Addie was squished in the middle seat. Someone had gotten popcorn crumbs everywhere. Jeremy took it upon himself to make spitballs and aim them at her. Addie squealed and begged him to stop countless times. Elena said proudly, "I'll protect you!" and covered her little sister as best as she could._

 _It was almost time for dinner, and Addie had asked her mom if she could eat a mozzarella stick. She said no. So, she asked her father and he said yes. But for some reason, immediately after he gave her permission, Addie told him that her mom had said no. Consequently her dad said no as well. Addie learned that day who to ask first._

 _Knocking out her first tooth with a straw. Jeremy convincing her that an apple was finished once all the skin was eaten. Sticking her hand into the fountain at Disneyland. The smooth glide of dolphin beneath her fingertips at SeaWorld._

 _A man with raven black hair and piercing blue eyes on the side of the road._

 _That night at the lake house when she first really touched Damon and she fell asleep next to him on the couch._

 _The night she save him from the fire after helping Uncle John trap him. Their first kiss._

 _Damon weak and dying as he told her he loved her._

 _The glowing grin that covered his face when he figured out Sonnet 116 and she finally found the courage to admit she loved him._

Memory after memory of Damon. Followed by images of what was yet to come. Christmas, summer, graduation, college. All without Damon. She wasn't sure if it was the idea of a life without Damon made her cold or if it was chilly water slowly filling the sinking car. Frantically she tried to open the door or bust the window.

The instinct not to breathe underwater is so strong that it overcomes the agony of running out of air. No matter how desperate she was, she wouldn't inhale until she was on the verge of losing consciousness. At that point there would be so much carbon dioxide in the blood, and so little oxygen, that chemical sensors in the brain trigger an involuntary breath whether underwater or not. That point came after a minute and a half of full submersion.

At the first involuntary breath she was still conscious, which was unfortunate, because the only thing more unpleasant than running out of air is breathing in water. Voluntary control over not breathing became involuntary and she began to down in earnest. A spasmodic breath dragged icy water into the mouth and windpipe and flooded her lungs.

* * *

There was a soft knock on Damon's open door. He continued to lean against one of the large beams at the foot of his bed, his arms across his chest as he stared down at the small form that lay in the center of crimson pillows and bedding. She looked paler than usual.

"Elena," Damon acknowledged, giving her permission to enter.

Elena quietly entered the room and took a seat on the bed next to her sister. She tucked a lock of stray hair behind Addie's ear. Stefan told her about Addie's situation but she hadn't gotten the chance to see her during the crazy day. "How is she?"

"Are you asking if she's in transition?" he snipped bitterly and Elena nodded. Damon shrugged and drained the last of the scotch from the tumbler he held. "No fucking clue."

When Stefan had arrived at the crash, Elena had still been conscious. She insisted that Stefan save her sister first. Addie had stopped moving and she feared the worse. By the time Stefan had gone back in for Elena, it had been too late for her.

Addie's heart had also stopped but paramedics had been able to restart it after almost fifteen minutes. Neither Stefan nor Damon knew if that meant she had technically died by vampire qualifications. Damon hadn't been particularly happy to discover that she had been admitted to the hospital but they had hooked her up to an EEG and it was reassuring to know there was normal brain activity going on. Other than being unconscious, Meredith Fell said Addie was medically clear and that she should wake up. No one had argued the raging vampire when he decided that he was taking her home.

"Have you tried giving you her blood?" Elena suggested.

He scoffed sardonically, "I think she has had enough vampire blood. Besides, there's nothing to fix."

"She's unconscious."

"Really? I thought she was taking a nap!" he snapped as he poured another dose of scotch.

"In your opinion, do you think she's in transition?"

Damon ran an anxious hand through his hair. If she was in transition, he expected she would had been in and out of it all night until mid-morning like Elena had been but Addie hadn't so much as stirred. However, he had no idea what restarting her heart so soon would do to the process. At least fifteen minutes of oxygen deprivation should have caused brain damage and the fact that she didn't have any suggested she was in transitions. He didn't believe she would be revived and _then_ his blood that was in her system would heal dead brain cells. There were limitations to vampire blood. It could go either way.

He sighed, "I hope not."

"Why not? You don't want to spend forever with her?" Elena wonder. She didn't know why she felt guilty for asking.

"Of course I do but that's not what she wants. Addie would never go through with the transition, though."

Elena knew he had a point. The idea was to depressing to consider. She turned away from her sister and focused on Damon. "I was surprised when it was Klaus and not you who came and rescued us from Pastor Young's farm today."

Esther had outed the vampires and hybrids of town to the Council when she had possessed Rebekah and they had quickly moved into action. They had actually stormed the boardinghouse in search of Damon but he had quickly hid himself and Addie in his closet. He doubted she would ever complain his wardrobe was too extensive ever again.

"I was willing to sacrifice my brother to kill Klaus. Did you really expect me to leave Addie unprotected to save him?" Damon remarked dryly.

"Not necessarily. It wasn't just him," she said in a small voice.

He didn't notice how his grip on the glass tightened slightly. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"There is one perk to transitioning," Elena admitted as she stood up and moved closer to him. "I remember everything you compelled me to forget. I met you before I met Stefan. You were a stranger that told me you wanted me to get everything from life. Damon, why didn't you tell me?"

"Would it have made a difference?" he asked softly. He wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer. Despite the initial pain, things had turned out well for him. He had gotten the dream: a love that consumed him, passion and even a little danger.

"You didn't make Addie forget meeting you," she pointed out, dodging his question.

Damon had never been able to provide a satisfactory answer as to why he hadn't made her forget. He had always made questionable decisions when it came to Addie, perhaps because she was always such a riddle to him. "No, I didn't."

"Even way back then it was her," Elena said a little sadly. "Did you ever really have feelings for me or was it always her?"

He was confused at the way his heart seemed to skip a beat. "I wanted you but I have only ever loved her."

"And now it will always be her?"

Damon hesitated, feeling slightly guilty about the trace of disappointment in her voice. He couldn't help the smile that tugged at his lips as he looked at his Ads, though. "Always."

* * *

 **A/N: It's been a long journey and I cannot begin to tell you how much it means to me that you have stuck with me through it! I love each and every one of you. Writing this is bittersweet for me. I hate to say goodbye to Addie and Damon. I wasn't going to include this last scene but it does serve as a set up if I do decide to continue with Resist Control. (Should I? So torn.) I'll do an update here if I do post Resist so if you are following, you will get the alert.**

 **UPDATE (1/29/17): I am proud to announce that due to popular demand Resist will be posted this week! I will add the link here when it is posted.**

 **Thank you so much for your support! You guys have been amazing. I'd love to hear your final thoughts.**


	29. Chapter 28

RESIST CONTROL IS NOW UP!

Thank you all so much for your continued support.


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